KPJ2 - Fossil Fossick
by LemurKat
Summary: The search for a fossil turns to more then our heros had bargainned for!
1. Default Chapter

# High Flying Havoc

The skeletal Pokemon stood before us. Maki peered at it over the rope barrier.   
"Makimurr," he muttered, in a fascinated fashion. You could almost see the mischief gleeming in his eyes.   
"Stay behind the rope, Maki," I cautioned, wondering about the sanity of taking him into a museum, but I thought the cultural experience would be good for him. Perhaps he'd see a relative. Ozmos watched carefully from behind the rope. She was probably wondering if the skeleton were edible. I had Spike with me too, we always kept him out of his Pokeball in the hope that he would calm down somewhat if exposed to the outside world. He was definitely getting better, although it was a very short rope. I had received some sour comments from the man at the door, who had taken our fares. He thought it was cruel to keep a Nidoran on a piece of string. He would have understood better if he had knew what Spike was capable of doing.   
"Maki!" Maki shrieked joyously, leaping over the barrier. I reached out to grab him, but he was too fast. He scampered up the skeleton's leg and across its spine, to perch on its head. "Maki Maki murr!" He shouted, which probably meant "I can see my house from here.   
"Get down this moment," I scolded him, aware of how fragile the skeleton might be. The last thing I needed was my Lemur Pokemon breaking something.   
"Vapor!" Ozmos shouted. I'm sure she was trying to help, but unfortunately, the act of her leaping under the railing and up the creature's spine was too great. She was rather plump, I must admit, and a lot larger than Maki, also her feet were not made for climbing. She slipped, grappling for balance and tumbled to the floor, bringing with her several rather valuable pieces of bone.   
Kameron hit himself on the forehead with one hand. "You should have put her on a lead too," he muttered.   
The crash also brought the Bone Keeper running. Maki leapt agily down from the skull and onto my shoulder. He did not look embarrassed in the least. Ozmos had fled into the shadows at the crashing sound. The only Pokemon that was behaving appeared to be the one I had least expected too.   
The Bone Keeper muttered angrily when he saw what had happened. "The damage is just terrible," he muttered, "that skeleton was priceless, priceless, it will take hours to fix."   
"I'm terribly sorry," I muttered.   
"Sorry, sorry ain't good enough, kid. You can't even control your own Pokemon, look at that poor fellow on the piece of string. There's hours of repairs in that, you'll just lucky it wasn't worse."   
"I would offer you money," I replied, "but I haven't much."   
"I could get some," Kameron interjected and I kicked him in the ankle. I knew where he intended to get it from, and it wasn't entirely legal.   
"Perhaps we could help you repair it." I added, hoping to placate him.   
He pondered for a moment. "I don't want you kids running around in here, making trouble," he replied. "But I do have something you could do. We had a site out by Lake Eerie, very promising site, but our money ran out and we had to abandon it. Now, recently, a child found what appeared to be a Pokemon trapped in amber – beautifully preserved. I would dearly love to get my hands on it, but I haven't the staff I used to."   
"We'll get it!" I interjected excitedly. "Lake Eerie was where I found Vaporeon. I know exactly where it is!"   
"You do, do you? Well, the archaelogical dig was on the northern shore – the farthest away from the village. I suppose it can't do any harm to send you out to collect the fossil. At least there's not much you can do to damage it."   
Kameron grinned at me. "Do I get to come along too?"   
I was somewhat surprised, I had thought after our embarrassing performance Kameron would not be too keen on tagging around with us anymore. His two Pokemon were perfectly behaved. Cubone was busily comparing his throwing bone with one from something much, much larger and Dancer was perched on the railing, looking vaguely interested in the topic of conversation. "Sure," I replied. "It's a long walk, and I don't have enough money for a bus."   
"No worries," Kameron replied. "I have the perfect way to travel." He looked up at the Bone Keeper. "We'll go off and get you your fossil, never you fear."   
"Then come with me to my office and I'll give you some details," he replied, sounding almost excited.   
After he had handed us a sheaf of papers and given us precise instructions (most of which we forgot five minutes later), we headed out, anxious for adventure.

"Look at our transport!" Kameron stated, gesticulating at a large hot air balloon. The balloon part was in the shape of a Magikarp.   
"Where did you get that?" I asked, somewhat nervously.   
"Oh," he replied with a shrug, "I have my sources. I'm didn't learn nothing in Team Rocket, after all!"   
I was momentarily confused by his use of double negatives. "You learnt something?"   
"Yep, how to fly a balloon."   
"And how to obtain them too, obviously," I muttered to myself.   
Kameron flashed a card at me. It had a photo of him on it and the "Team Rocket" logo across the top. "They forgot to take this back when they fired me," he replied. "This gives me access to almost anything I want."   
"Handy," I muttered. "Just keep your hands off my Maki!"   
"I'm not after your Pokemon," he replied. "But if I find something new of my own, or someone else has one…"   
I punched him in the arm in a friendly fashion. "I hope you're kidding…"   
"Of course," he replied, in a voice that suggested he wasn't. "Come on, let's go!"   
We all clambered aboard. Maki perched on the edge, clinging to one of the guide ropes and I returned Spike and Ozmos to their Pokeballs. It seemed safer that way. It would have been nice to put Maki safely in a Pokeball too, but I knew he wouldn't stand for it.   
And then we were off.

Kameron did seem to know what he was doing and the Magikarp air balloon rose gracefully into the sky. He fiddled with a compass for a bit, and shortly we were drifting off across the beautiful, sunlit skies.   
We had not been airborne long before we came into a cloud bank. Kameron assured me that everything was fine, that he knew exactly what he was doing, and it was all too beautiful for me to be really frightened. It was almost like flying – the ground stretched out below us all hills and lakes and villages, people moving across it like tiny ants. And then there was nothing but cloud. After two minutes of travelling through clouds, Maki grew bored and curled up in the bottom of the basket. We still seemed to be making good time and in the right direction, so I leaned on the side, and stared through the white clouds.   
There was not a lot to see.   
Suddenly we were out of the clouds and before us was another balloon! The balloon itself was in the shape of Kadabra's head and my heart pulsed a moment. It couldn't be, it shouldn't be!   
It was…   
"Prepare for chaos it never fails to protect the people… ah, let's cut this rubbish. Go Kadabra, grab that Makimur!"   
Team Rocket.   
Kadabra appeared from its Pokeball and waved its hand around. A beam of purplish light shot out, surrounding Maki who was standing on the side of the basket, wondering what the Hades was going on.   
It all happened so fast.   
"Go Butterfree!" Kameron shouted and Dancer sprang into the air. I glanced at my Pokeballs, nothing was really useful.   
"Go Flareon, go Ozmos," at least we could make an effort.   
"Go Fearow!" Shouted Loki and the large bird sprang into the air, meeting Dancer in mid flight.   
"Toxic dust attack Dancer!" Kameron shouted, the wind tearing hi voice away from him.   
"Makii!" Maki cried, hovering in the air half-way between the two balloons.   
Dancer flapped her wings furiously, sending the Fearow tumbling back but not stunning it.   
"Fearow, beak drill!" Loki shrieked.   
The large bird started pecking furiously at Dancer, who tried to flap back but was having great difficulty.   
Freyja reached over and scooped Maki from the air.   
"Now get the vaporeon!" She shouted at it.   
"Ozmos, water gun!" I suggested, now that Maki was safely out of hovering in mid air.   
The high-pressured water met the psychic beam from the kadabra's hands. The two pushed against each other. The water shattered apart, spraying earthwards like a brief flurry of rain.   
"Flareon, flame throw it!" I shouted.   
"Butterfree, you can do it!" Kameron shrieked. "Dive beneath it."   
At that point, two things happened, Dancer managed to dive under the Fearow, which overshot and ran beak first into the magikarp balloon and flareon's flamethrower met kadabra's psychic beam and suddenly pushed us backwards with great force into the clouds. Flareon and Ozmos fell on top of us as we all tumbled backwards. The basket started sinking in a rather disturbing fashion.   
"We're going down!" Kameron shouted. "Dancer, grab the balloon!"   
"Freeee," warbled Dancer, flapping in to seize the ropes in her hands. She was in quite a bad state. The balloon stayed level for a moment and then lurched downwards.   
I grabbed on to Kameron. "What do we do?"   
Kameron stared at me, his eyes filled with fear. "Crash to the ground, would be a good bet," he replied grimly. "I just hope we land on something soft."   
And suddenly we did, the balloon bounced upwards as though it had landed on the soft clouds, but that was impossible, clouds weren't solid.   
_ Having a spot of trouble?_ came a strange, mental voice.   
"What? Who is it?" We glanced furiously around. Suddenly something seemed to spring out of the clouds and sat on a cloud opposite our balloon. It was a large dog Pokemon, looking something like an Arcanine but pure white and with a fuller, more cloud-like mane. Its eyes were as blue as the sky.   
_ It is I._ The voice continued.   
"You can talk!" Kameron exclaimed, somewhat unnecessarily.   
_ In a manner of speaking._ It continued. _ I am Cumulupus, the cloud wolf. Some would say I do not exist, but here I am. You seem to be in rather a spot of trouble, so I thought I'd catch you. Did I do right?_   
"Oh yes, very right," I replied. "Team Rocket stole my friend," I blurted out. "We must save him. Can you help us?"   
_ Why not?_ The Cloud Wolf replied. _It is rather dull up here, after all. Some excitement might be good, for a change. Just connect me up to these ropes, and I'll carry you after them. We'll have your friend back in no time._   
"Oh thank you so much, beautiful wolf Pokemon," I replied. Kameron rolled his eyes.   
We connected Cumulupus up to the ropes and it sprang through the clouds. As it leapt, it left little puffs of cloud behind and everywhere it put its feet, small cloudlets formed beneath then. Like stepping stones. It was the most beautiful Pokemon I had ever seen.   
_ I'm not too fond of Team Rocket myself,_ it sent to us. _Sometimes they come up here and try to capture my kin. Foolish, don't they know you can't trap cloud. Anyway, I see them, up ahead. I'll take care of their psychic Pokemon, you handle the others._   
"Right," I agreed. "Go Flareon, Ozmos, Spike!"   
"Hey, don't forget mine! Go Cubone, Butterfree!"   
Loki glanced back and did a double take. "I can't believe it!" He shouted to Freyja, "the little squirts survived." Then he saw Cumulupus. "Holy Cow!"   
Freyja glanced up. "Oh, Kadabra and Fearow can handle that. Let's catch it, I'll bet it's worth a fortune."   
Cumulupus threw back its head and howled. The echoes rolled out across the sky. Small clouds started forming around the Kadabra balloon. Fearow came soaring out into the air, and flew straight into a cloud. Just before it passed through it, the cloud became solid and it squawked in pain, tumbling earthwards, to recover many feet below.   
Spike jumped onto the cloud and ran across its solid surface, making a mighty leap into Team Rocket's balloon. I heard a scream as he charged into Loki's leg. The silver-haired man almost fell over the edge of the balloon.   
"Toxic dust them!" Kameron shouted to Dancer, who flapped over to the balloon. Kadabra once again tried to aim a beam of psychic energy at the Cumulupus, but it hit a cloud that formed almost instantaneously and reflected back. The Psychic Pokemon bellowed in pain as his beam radiated back on him.   
The Wolf Pokemon threw back its head again and howled. Cloud formed between our Balloon and Team Rocket's. It seemed to harden, forming a bridge.   
"Go Flareon, go Vaporeon, tackle them."   
"Go Nidorina!" Shouted Freyja, obviously gaining control. The larger Poison Pin Pokemon leapt out onto the bridge. "Charge!"   
"Flareon, Vaporeon, leap out of her way!" I shouted.   
Flareon leapt nimbly aside, but Ozmos was slower, probably because she was fatter. The nidorina picked her up on her broad head and pushed her over the side.   
"Cumulupus!" I shouted. "Ozmos has fallen!"   
The wolf Pokemon looked down, concentrated a moment and a cloud materialised beneath the tumbling Ozmos. She bounced harmlessly, then stood there looking puzzled. Cumulupus began howling again, forming a staircase to the bridge.   
"Flareon, tackle it!" I shouted and the fire Pokemon sprang on the Nidorina just before she reached our basket.   
"Nidorina, kick and bite!" Freyja shouted. "Abra, psyshock that vaporeon, quick before it gets back to the ladder!"   
The Abra hovered just above the edge of the basket. "Aabrraa," it muttered sleepily and pointed.   
"Vaporeon, dodge!" I shouted. But I was too slow, Spike had bet me to it. The Nidoran leapt on the back of the Abra, which was too distracted by Ozmos to teleport away.   
"NiDO!" He bellowed, as he tumbled over the edge, taking Abra with him. Abra teleported back up to the basket an instant later. By now, Ozmos had reached the bridge again. It was starting to dissipiate somewhat, small clumps of it blowing away.   
"Dancer, catch Spike!" Kameron shouted, realising that against the wind the toxic dust attack was having little effect.   
"Freeee!" Dancer fell into a dive.   
"Flareon, Ozmos, get back in the basket!" I cried as the bridge began to fall apart. Nidorina panicked for a moment than fell off the cloud, plummetting earthwards. I felt sorry for it, it would probably not survive.   
Suddenly Maki leapt up on the side of the Team Rocket basket. "Maki!" He shouted.   
"Cumulupus, can you make stepping stones for Maki?" I shouted.   
_ I can try, but I am tired, this Kadabra is very strong._   
"Thank you Cumulupus, I will be most grateful! Maki, jump on the clumps of cloud, but be careful!"   
"Abra, catch that Makimur!" Freyja shouted. Abra suddenly materialised beside him, almost making Maki miss his next jump.   
The Fearow flapped back up, clinging desperately to the Nidorina which it deposited in the basket before perching on the side. Its wings drooped, it was obviously bet.   
"MakI!" Maki shrieked in fear as Abra tried to grab it.   
"Freeee!" Came the familiar trill.   
"NidoRAN!"   
The Nidoran carried in Butterfree's hands slashed against the Abra, which was knocked into the air to teleport back to the basket. It knew when it was beaten.   
Maki leapt into the basket and into my arms. "Maki maki makimurr!" He sounded happy to be back with us. Dancer deposited Spike in the basket and collapsed exhausted beside him. "Freeee," she whispered painfully.   
_ And now to get them out of the way,_ the Cloud Wolf sent. It took a deep breath, so that its sides swelled up to immense proportions and exhaled sharply at the balloon. It hit the Kadabra head full on and sent the balloon spinning away into the distance. _ And that's that,_ it replied. I think I have enough energy left to get you back to the ground, but beyond that, you'll walking.   
"Thank you so much for your help, Cumulupus," I replied, reaching up to stroke its silver-white, fluffy chest. "We could not have done it without you."   
_ Thank me when you'll back on solid ground,_ it replied, humour glinting in its thoughts.   
And then the beautiful white wolf Pokemon sprang down the clouds, coming to rest in a patch of long grass. We clambered out and untied the ropes. I gave it a hug.   
"Thank you, Cumulupus, I will always remember your assistance and if you ever need any help of your own…"   
_ I'll howl for you,_ it replied. _Good hunting_.   
"And good cloud dancing to you, my friend," Kameron interjected.   
_ Farewell_.   
And then the legendary Pokemon leapt upwards and back into the clouds.   
"Oh darn," Kameron cursed as soon as it was out of earshot. "I should have caught it. It must be worth a fortune." He chuckled.   
I kicked him in the ankle.   
"Oww!" He rubbed it.   
"Oops, I guess my foot slipped. Come on, let's get to a Pokecentre now. I think we're near a town, I can see a road just over there."   
Kameron shook his head. "Girls," he muttered to himself.   
And up in the skies, one cloud separated itself from the others and sprang out, twisting and turning in the sunlight.


	2. The Pokemon Fighting Ring

# The Pokemon Fighting Ring

"Are we there yet?" Kameron asked, in a sarcastic, almost weary manner.   
"Of course not," I replied. "You're the one with the compass anyway."   
Kameron sighed. He was bored with walking, as was Maki. The Makimur had picked up a flower from somewhere and was carrying it in his mouth, almost falling over it. It was almost comical.   
Clouds broiled in the sky. It had been a couple of days since we had left Cumulupus, the beautiful Cloud Wolf behind, two days of trudging towards the distant Lake Eerie. I had heard strange things about the lake, about how it got its name. Some said it was haunted. The first time I had gone there, the village on its shore was being bothered by some type of water beast stealing their food. It had turned out to be a vaporeon, which I had captured. We were going to investigate an archaelogical site on its northern shore, where a strange fossil had been discovered.   
Suddenly Kameron paused. "I hear something," he hissed.   
I paused too, and could hear something whimpering.   
"Something around here is hurt!" He exclaimed. "We have to find it."   
"Where's Maki?" I asked.   
"Oh crikes, the little rat's run off again!" Kameron muttered.   
I turned a fearsome gaze on him. "He is not a little rat and he has not run off, he's just investigating, ok?"   
Kameron took a step back. "Yes oh great fearsome one."   
"Maki maki maki!" Maki suddenly came running past, a female Nidoran running after him. When she came close to us, Spike turned to her and growled. The female Nidoran dropped to a crouch and growled back.   
"Shoo!" Kameron chased the challenging female away. Spike strutted back and forth as though he had scared her away. "Hey, here it is!" He scooped and picked up something that was lying concealed in a scrubby bush. "It's an Eevee!"   
And so it was, a tiny, greyish Eevee lay in his arms, shivering and trying to bury its nose in his armpit.   
"It's hurt!" He exclaimed, and I leaned over to investigate.   
Its foreleg had a cut running around the entire circumference, as though someone had tied a very tight piece of string about it. The skin about the wound was worn free of here and an ugly blackish-red.   
"Poor wee mite," I mumurred. "I guess someone did this to it."   
"Yeah," Kameron agreed. "How could they? How could someone do this to a poor little Eevee?"   
I shrugged, then noticed Spike was staring up at me, trying to get my attention. "You don't think its from the same place Spike came from, do you?"   
"Nido, nidoran."   
"I think that's a yes," Kameron replied. "Spike me ol' friend, was your old home near here?"   
Spike paused a moment, scented the air, then nodded.   
"Could you take us there?" I asked him.   
The Nidoran looked at me, nodded, then shook his head furiously.   
"He can, but won't," Kameron translated.   
"I gathered as much. Come on, let's get this wee guy to a Pokecentre. I think we need to talk to Officer Jenny too."   
Luckily we were relatively near a city, and we managed to make it in there by nightfall.

*

"We cannot have people treating Pokemon like that," Officer Jenny replied. "We must find this place. Can you take me there, Nidoran? Eevee?"   
Spike looked at her for a long time, then nodded briskly, glancing up at us. Eevee was still cowering in Kameron's arms. It seemed to have taken quite a liking to him. It was frightened of me, the Officer, even Nurse Joy, although its wound had been mostly healed now, the fur was still missing around it.   
"I'll investigate later today kids," she said. "I've just got a couple of things to work out first. I'll get back to you tonight, and return your Nidoran."   
"Wait," I interjected, "you mean we don't get to come with you?"   
"This is Police work, not child's play," she replied.   
"You have to let us come," Kameron interrupted. "Nidoran won't behave without Kat around."   
"And Eevee won't leave Kameron's side."   
"Ok, ok, I know when I'm bet. You two can come along, but you're to stay away from the action, alright?"   
"Of course." We chimed in unison.   
"Nidoran!" Spike agreed.

*

The Police wagon bounced along the rough country road. Kameron and I sat together in the front seat, beside Officer Jenny. We couldn't sit in the back, because a very large Arcanine was lying there, lazily. Maki watched it nervously from the back of the seat. He had been very quiet, I think he was a bit daunted by what was happening. Spike sat in my lap, his front hooves balanced on the dashboard. Every now and then he would say "Nido!" or "Ran!", which he had been instructed to use for "left" and "right" respectively.   
Suddenly he growled, low in his throat, in a most menacing fashion. Eevee, already curled up on Kameron's lap, drew itself up inside his trenchcoat.   
Officer Jenny stopped the wagon. "I think this is the place, kids," she stated.   
We peered out the window at a grimy barn, almost hidden behind an overgrown hedge. Spike growled from my knee. I knew this had to be the place. Officer Jenny stepped out of the wagon and opened the back door so Arcanine could jump out. Jenny cautioned us behind her as we walked towards the hedge. There was a ricketty wooden gate set in it.   
"You kids stay here," she cautioned us, "I think I can handle the rest myself."   
"Yes madam," I muttered. I glanced at Kameron and he grinned at me.   
"Good," Officer Jenny replied. We sat down by the gate and watched her walk down the overgrown path. It looked as though noone had been here for years. The grass was overgrown and the path was covered in dead leafs.   
"I can't believe she made us wait out here," I muttered.   
"Nido," Spike muttered in agreement.   
"Where's Maki?" Kameron suddenly asked.   
I then realised I hadn't seen the little Lemur for sometime. "I guess we'd better go find him then," I replied. "We shouldn't shout out, we might alert them to our presence."   
"My thoughts entirely," Kameron nodded. "We can't let him wander around all alone. Something might happen to him."   
"And Officer Jenny certainly can't blame us for searching for a missing Pokemon." I grinned.   
"Maki maki murrr?" Maki suddenly sprang down from the hedge. I think it translated as "are you looking for me?"   
"Oh Maki," Kameron sighed, "run inside that hedge will you, so we can follow you?"   
Maki quirked his head on one side. "Maki?"   
"Isn't that some type of pretty stone over there?" I pointed.   
Maki's golden eyes swivelled to focus on said stone. He squeezed through the gate and loped over.   
"We'd better follow him," I exclaimed.   
"Nidoran." 

Maki played the game well, scampering away from us everytime we came near. I could hear Officer Jenny having a conversation with someone at the door, and then she went inside. The lawn was hardly worth describing as a lawn. It looked as though it had not seen a mower for the better part of a century. Small children could get lost in here. There was no sign of any Pokemon however, although Eevee was so freaked out it hid inside Kameron's trenchcoat. Spike seemed different from usual, less aggressive and slightly jumpy. I knew he did not like being here, I also knew that this place must be the right one.   
Suddenly Maki leapt out of the grass in front of us, pouncing on Spike. Spike growled and the Makimur jumped back. This wasn't typical behaviour for his friend.   
We heard a sound from around the back, it sounded kind of like a dog. Arcanine?   
"Come on," Kameron called. "Let's go see what it is!"   
"Maki!"   
We darted around the back, slowing as we reached the edge of the barn and there we saw what we had been expecting all along. A wooden pen with high walls, behind which stood a beautiful white fox with nine tails. It was wearing a muzzle about its muzzle and appeared to be tied to the fence.   
"Nine tails," it muttered, through the halter.   
"Makimur!" Maki sprang on the fence in front of it, quirking his head to one side. "Maki makimur mur ki."   
"Talkative wee chap isn't he," Kameron mumured. "The poor Ninetails. It should not be tied up like that but either in a Pokeball or free."   
I nodded. "It's hurt too."   
And indeed it was, on foot was held off the ground, as though it had been injured, burnt from the look of it, and never treated. Suddenly we heard Officer Jenny calling from the gate.   
"Cripes, she's finished already," Kameron shouted. "We best get over there. Don't worry Ninetails, we'll have you free in no time!" He ran off, back around the barn. I rushed after him with Maki struggling to keep up.

"I'm afraid I can't see anything wrong here," Officer Jenny replied, much to our disappointment. "It appears to be some kind of training arena, but they showed me a couple of Pokemon they had and they all appeared fine. I can't arrest someone on the words of a Nidoran and an Eevee, unfortunately. I need solid proof."   
"Is an injured Ninetails enough proof for you?" I asked.   
"I'd have to see it. You kids didn't go off doing some sleuthing of your own, did you?"   
"Maybe," Kameron scuffed his foot in the dirt. "But it was her Makimur what ran away from us!"   
She sighed. "Ok, show me you Ninetails."   
We led her around the barn, but when we got back, the pen was empty.   
"I don't understand it," Kameron whined. "It was there a minute ago. They must've seen us."   
"I'm sorry, but it's not illegal to train Pokemon in a barn. Come along children, I guess you were just imagining things."   
"We don't imagine things," Kameron stuck his chin out.   
"Surely there's something you can do?" I whined.   
Officer Jenny shrugged. "Not a lot I'm afraid, not unless I fin firm proof that something bad is going on in here. Otherwise all we have is an aggressive Nidoran and a terrified Eevee, which could have got injured anywhere."   
"Eevee!" Eevee whimpered.   
Kameron rolled his eyes. "Ok, fine, let's go then, let's leave the poor little beasts in trouble."   
"I don't think I like your attitude," Officer Jenny stated. Suddenly Arcanine started whining.   
"What is it Arky?" I asked it. It barked and started jogging towards a small shed. Officer Jenny raced after it. Kameron and I glanced at each other, then followed.   
We paused as we reached the building, for noises were coming from within. It sounded like fighting. I stood on tiptoe to peer through a hole in the wall. Officer Jenny put her hand on my shoulder. "You shouldn't do that," she whispered.   
"Look," I insisted, for inside the shed was a man, staring at two Pokemon within a small fenced area. It appeared to be a Growlithe and a Pidgey. The fire puppy had a halter across its muzzle, forcing its mouth to stay shut. The two were fighting in a way I had never seen Pokemon fight before. Obviously, in such a fight, a Growlithe would normally win, but the Pidgey appeared to be holding its own, since it was able to fly and smaller and the dog could not flame. It flapped its wings stirring up dustclouds from the floor.   
The Growlithe growled gutterlly, the only way it was able to, and lunged at the bird through the flying dust, trying to knock it from the air with its paws. It was not the way a dog would normally fight, since they preferred to use their teeth.   
Officer Jenny, who was peering through the hole over my shoulder, stated, "they shouldn't be doing that. Come on." She rapped on the door.   
The man answered it, he was burly looking and had mean, piggy eyes.   
"What doya want?" He asked brusquely.   
"I heard sounds of fighting," Officer Jenny stated. "And I thought I'd better investigate."   
"I'm just training me Pokemon," he muttered. "Ain't no law against that, is there?"   
"Well," replied Jenny, glancing at the muzzled Growlithe and the Pidgey, which we could now see was tied to the fence with a piece of string about its leg. A long piece of string, but still string, never-the-less. "There is actually a law against training them like that."   
"Yeah? Hey, I recognise that Nidoran!" Spike was growling at him. "That's my Nidoran, it got away from here some months ago and we thought kids must've stolen it. Looks like we was right. Give it back!"   
"Nidorannn," Spike snarled. "Nido nido," he snapped.   
"Did you steal this Nidoran, Kat?" Officer Jenny asked me.   
"Of course not," I replied, "I got it from a breeder some distance from here. I would never steal a Pokemon."   
Kameron barely repressed his chuckle and I kicked him in the foot. I had stolen his Butterfree back from Team Rocket, after all.   
"Well, it's my Nidoran and I want it."   
"Excuse me, sir," Officer Jenny intercepted before things could get nasty. "Why are your Pokemon bound?"   
"To keep 'em from burning down me barn," he replied. "And to make the match more fair."   
"You shouldn't tie them up like that!" Kameron snapped.   
"Maki!"   
"You've got that Nidoran tied up," the man pointed out, quite truthfully.   
"That's different," I replied. "He's a bit ill-tempered and I don't want him running off and attacking you."   
Indeed, it looked as though the Nidoran was more than willing to charge him within a seconds provocation.   
"I'll prove my Pokemon are loyal and well-trained." He turned to the Growlithe and remover the halter from around its muzzle. "Go Growlithe, show these people that you are a well-trained Pokemon."   
"Arcanine, intercept it," Officer Jenny ordered, but she needn't have bothered. The moment its muzzle was removed, the Growlithe spun around and spat a plume of fire directly at the man. He dodged barely in time, getting somewhat singed, and the flare nestled into the wall. Instantly, it set fire to the ancient timbers.   
"Very well trained," Kameron replied, applauding sarcastically.   
"Go Vaporeon!" I cried, "water gun the wall, put out the fire!"   
Officer Jenny pushed us out of the shed door as Ozmos sprang happily through the door and sprayed water at the wall. It sizzled and then went out. Kameron was inspecting the Growlithe.   
"The muzzle has cut into its cheeks and left cuts," he pointed out. "They're red and could be infected, should have been treated ages ago."   
The Officer smiled at the man, who was backing against the black-scorched wall. "You're under arrest for Pokemon abuse," she stated mater-of-factly. "We're confiscating all your Pokemon for rehabilitation. You have the right to remain silent…" She went on to read him his rights, but Kameron and I retreated to the pathway. Our work here was done, Eevee and Spike's terrible treatment had been avenged. Eevee clambered up onto Kameron's shoulder.   
"Eevee!" It spat at the man, which said it all really.


	3. Secret of Lake Eerie

# The Secret of Lake Eerie

  
  


"I'm so glad we're finally here," Kameron said, skipping a stone across the still surface of the lake. Razor sprang out of the water, catching the pebble with his nose and flicking it back. The Seadra seemed very happy to be out of his Pokeball, it had been a long time since we had been near enough water to let him frolic. All of our Pokemon were relaxing by the shores of the lake, or playing in the water. Vaporeon and Eevee were wrestling in the shallows, the poor Eevee getting the worst of it because it was smaller and less used to the water. It was soaked. Dancer and Maki were playing chase amongst the long stemmed flowers that lined the bank and Cubone appeared to be playing fetch with Flareon. The only one that was near us, was Spike, who lay stretched out on the shore beside me, begging to have his head scratched. He seemed to have calmed down a lot since the days when he would attack anything on sight. After we had put a stop to the Pokemon fighting ring, where they had fought Pokemon, no holds barred, with special moves restricted (something very cruel) and did not get adequate treatment for their injuries, Spike seemed to actually like us. I had done away with the lead today, since I hardly thought he needed it anymore. Perhaps one day I could start fighting with him in controlled battles again.   
"Yeah, but it's a shame we can't get this fossil until tomorrow," I replied, "I'm very curious to see it."   
Kameron shrugged. "Oh, well, at least here we can relax and perhaps have a swim." He removed his trenchcoat, laying it down gently beside him as though it were breakable, or a small child. Beneath it he wore a greyish-white shirt with an red "R" embroidered on the breast pocket, and black shorts.   
"I see you've still got the Team Rocket shirt," I pointed out.   
He shrugged, "I've gotta get myself a new shirt soon, but just cos I wear the shirt doesn't mean I'm with them anymore."   
"Are you sure you were fired?" I asked. He still had the shirt, still had the ID card… It all seemed a little suspicious if you ask me.   
"Fired, quit, what difference does it make? The boss called me a complete imbecile and that he didn't want to see my ugly mug again. How would you take it?"   
"It's not an ugly mug," I replied, then blushed, realising what I'd said.   
Kameron just smiled enigmatically. "I guess I missed your Maki one too many times." He replied. "The boss says his only men that do worse than me are Jessie and James, who've been after a Pikachu forever."   
"Yeah, my cousin Ash's Pikachu. He says they've been enemies so long, they're almost closer than friends. I suppose that happens sometimes."   
"You're Ash's cousin. Cool. I hear he's famous."   
"Yeah, he's one of the reasons I decided to become a trainer, I heard they were filming his adventures and all. Of course, I'm not so much into the professional fighting, I just want to meet lots of new Pokemon."   
"Like Cumlupus."   
"Yep."   
Kameron stripped off his evil Team Rocket shirt, throwing it into a pile next to his treasured trench coat. He was somewhat scrawny in a sinewy kind of way. Not too displeasing to the eye, but what did I know? I was only thirteen. "Coming in?" He asked.   
I shrugged. "I'll have to find my bathing suit first. I know I packed it somewhere…"   
Kameron shrugged. "Well, you don't have too." He replied mischeviously, then darted into the water before I could kick him. I watched as he paddled out a short way, and suddenly began screaming. "Argh, its got me!"   
"Vapor!" Ozmos rose her head and sounded concerned, she dived beneath he water.   
"Kameron, are you ok?" I yelled, running into the shallows. A familiar looking head rose form the water beside Kameron.   
"Seadraaa!" Razor laughed happily.   
"Razor, you vagabond!" I shouted. "You had us really scared for a moment there."   
Razor looked shame-faced, but I could see he was grinning on the inside.   
"VapoR!" Ozmos dived at Seadra, pulling him under. Little Eevee stood in the shallows watching its friend play with Razor.   
"Eevee," it said sadly. I picked it up.   
"Don't worry Eevee, Ozmos just likes playing with her water mates. It doesn't mean she doesn't like you."   
"Eevee eevee," Eevee did not sound convinced.   
"I know what it's like," I told it. "I'll tell you a secret."   
"Eevee?" Now it sounded curious.   
"I won't go in there because, like you, I can't swim," I whispered in Eevee's pointed ear. "Only, I don't want to tell Kameron that because he'll laugh at me."   
"Eevee eevee vee," Eevee crawled into my lap and nuzzled me affectionately.   
"You know," I said to it, "you're a really sweet wee fellow. I'm glad we found you."   
"Eevee!" It was glad too.   
In the water, Kameron was splashing Razor, who flapped awkwardly into the air with his oversized fins and then descended quickly into the water with a great "splash" that drenched both Kameron and Ozmos. Ozmos shook her head and dived beneath the water, sending the Seadra skywards in a blast of water. Kameron laughed and grabbed Ozmos by the tail. The vaporeon immediately formed into water and disappeared.   
"Kids," I said, shaking my head, secretly wishing I could be out there too, having fun. I had never learnt to swim, when I was four I had almost drowned playing by a lake not unlike this one, and I had never liked going in water deeper than a bath since. Which was funny, because many of my Pokemon were Water type. Flareon and Cubone had grown tired of their game and Cubone was making a haphazard attempt at putting up the tent, with the "assistance" of Maki. Flareon, I noted with some satisfaction, had fallen asleep on Kameron's wretched trench coat, his second skin. I hoped it got hair on it. Oh well, I might as well be useful. I wandered over to where Cubone had just managed to drop a tent pole on his foot and was hopping around muttering.   
"Cu bone bone bone," in a cursing fashion.   
Maki laughed, handing me a tent peg.

By the time Kameron and the others came out of the water, we more or less had the tent set up. Sure, it sagged a little and sure, the pole was a little crooked, but it was up. We returned all the Pokemon, except Maki, Eevee and Spike to their Pokeballs. Then Kameron grabbed a towel, cursed at Flareon and meandered off somewhere private to dry off and get clothed. I changed out of my travel stained clothes into some more comfortable ones and clambered into my sleeping bag. Maki curled up beside me head, eyeballing Eevee and Spike sagged by the door. At least they were small, otherwise there would not be enough room in the tent for the lot of them. A moment later Kameron crawled in. He was wearing an overlarge shirt with an Eevee painted on it and sweat pants. I chuckled as he came in.   
"Where's the trench coat?" It was sort of a running joke between us. He did not ever sleep in it, of course.   
Kameron folded up the trench coat and put it at the head of his sleeping bag. "The greatest thing about this coat is that is also doubles as a pillow," he said with a grin. "I guess your neck will feel it in the morning."   
"Nah, I'm use to it," I replied. Eevee snuggled under Kameron's chin, its head resting on his shoulder, big dark eyes still staring at Maki. Maki groomed his tail then went to sleep in a similar position.   
"What about the ghosts?" Kameron asked sleepily. "Ain't this lake supposed to be haunted?"   
"Yea, but we needn't worry about them – if Spike doesn't keep them away, the smell of your feet will."   
"Or your snoring!"   
"Nido," Spike muttered sleepily, clearly wishing us to shut up.

I was walking through the woods when suddenly something descended on me, it felt like a deflated balloon. It was huge, kind of heavy and suffocating. I tried to push it away with my hands, but it was as if they were made of treacle and could not be moved. Suddenly I woke, flailing in the air with hands and feet. The tent had collapsed on us. Two minutes of controlled panic, much cursing and screams of "Oww," or "Maki!" or "Eevv!" and we were all safely outside, to find Spike growling at something. A large, dark, shadow-like thing that hovered over the tent. It appeared to be laughing.   
"Haunnteeerrr," it whispered in a ghostly voice.   
"Nido nidoran!" Spike insisted.   
"What is that?" I asked Kameron. I certainly hadn't seen one before.   
"I think it's a Haunter," he informed me. "It would appear it let our tent down, they're great practical jokers. Let's catch it!"   
"Ok," I shrugged. "Spike use that fancy beam thing!"   
Spike turned to me and shrugged, looking puzzled. "Nido?"   
"Astral beam?" Kameron ventured.   
"Yeah, try that thing."   
A beam of light shot from Spike's horn, glittering as though laden with stars.   
"Haunnntterrr," the Haunter dodged aside and started making movements with its hands.   
"It's trying to put him to sleep!" Kameron shouted. "Go Dancer!"   
Dancer exploded into the air.   
"Dancer, flap your wings at it really hard!"   
"Freeee!"   
"Maki, star blaze attack!"   
Maki jumped boldly forward, putting his hands on his hips and staring intently at the Haunter. Suddenly it turned around and floated away.   
"Don't let it get away!" Kameron shouted. "Toxic dust it, Dancer!"   
But it was already vanishing. "Chase it!" I shouted, and we ran after it, heedless of the fact that it was very dark and the water lay to one side like a great black void. This was what excitement was all about.   
We had not run far when Kameron, who was faster than me, stumbled to a stop. "It went in there," he informed me.   
Before us was a dark tunnel, mostly obscured by vines and thorny plants. They were easy to get rid of anyway.   
"Flareon, flare those bushes!"   
"Flare!" The plume of fire reduced the bushes to crisp black dust, which we broke through easily. Beyond it was a dark tunnel, only large enough for us to crawl down.   
"I'm not so sure about this," Kameron muttered.   
"You don't want to let the Haunter get away do you?" I asked.   
"Well, it's just that Haunters like practical jokes and this tunnel seems awfully suspicious…"   
He was right of course, but that didn't mean I had to agree with it. "You're not afraid of the dark are you?" I goaded.   
"It is awfully dark, there could be strange monsters or holes or anything."   
It seemed I had just found Kameron's secret phobia. "Maki, make the star on your head glow." He did. "See, now we have a light, let's go. First, Flareon, Spike, return."   
"Return Butterfree, Eevee," Kameron stated, but Eevee shook its head vehemontly, dodging the beam. It did not want to be returned to its Pokeball. "It seems my Eevee is as stubborn as your Maki!" Kameron joked.   
"Maki," Maki scolded, as Eevee muttered, "vee!"   
"They don't think they're stubborn at all. Come on, let's go, before it gets away."   
We dropped to all fours and crawled down the tunnel, Maki scampering ahead, his little star glowing like a beacon. Something flapped overhead, shrieking shrilly.   
"What's that?" Kameron almost shrieked, trying to cover his head with his clay covered hands.   
"Just a zubat," I replied. "They probably like it here, lots of insects and nice and dark."   
He shuddered. "As long as they keep away from my hair," he muttered. "I wish I'd put my trench coat on, its blinking freezing in here."   
Something occurred to me – it was not that Kameron was scared of the dark, not that he hated enclosed places, it was something much more interesting. He obviously felt vulnerable without his trench coat. Maybe that was why he wore it continuously, even if he had to take his shirt off from underneath to keep cool. I smiled to myself, it was nice to find that others had their weaknesses.   
"Zuuuuuu," another Zubat flapped past, its cries high and eerie. Maki cowered back, close to me. He didn't like zubats either. The passage had been steadily going downwards, now it evened out, the roof lifting so that we could kind of stand upright.   
"Makiii!" Maki cried, leaping back into my arms, spraying me in damp clay. I could see why he was frightened, for the whole area was lit with an eerie green luminiscience.   
"What is it?" I asked, mostly rhetorically, for surely Kameron could not know they answer. I saw that Maki was daunted by the green radiance.   
"Did you find the Haunter?" Kameron asked. "Why is everything so green?"   
"No Haunter, and I don't know why, but Maki doesn't seem to like it at all.   
Suddenly something jumped out in front of us. It was large, and green, but oddly familiar.   
"Slash, slash," it cried, striking at us with machete like claws. We dropped back, staring at it.   
"It's a Sandslash," Kameron muttered, sounding almost awed.   
"But it's green!" I added.   
He turned to me. "I know what this is – it's a Leaf stone! A really big Leaf stone. That's why the light is green." He sounded awestruck. "This I must catch, grass is weak against fire, send in your Flareon!"   
"Go Flareon," I cried.   
"Flare-on!" Flareon leapt out but immediately drew back, whimpering as though pained.   
"Flareon, return!" I cried, before it was hurt more. "I think the radiation is so strong that Flareon can't stand it. It must be strong, to make a Sandslash green. Maki, starblaze it!"   
"MaKI!" Maki shrieked as the ray of light arched from his forehead. Vines, not unlike tentacles sprang from their resting position at the Sandslash's side and both hit Maki, who was too distracted to dodge. They flipped him over backwards.   
"I don't think he likes the radiation either," I interjected, "I think he's trying to resist evolving, try Butterfree, I'll try Spike."   
"Freeee!" The Butterfree sprang into the air, dodging the Sandslash's tentacles.   
"Dancer, dust cloud," Kameron cried, and Dancer stirred up the lose clay on the floor.   
Suddenly the Sandslash leaned forward, straightening up abruptly, so that it fired its spines, which were leaf-like, straight into the air.   
"Dodge Dancer," Kameron cried, although the Butterfree already was.   
The Sandslash suddenly turned and raced back, further into the green glow.   
"Don't let it get away!" Kameron shrieked, as Dancer flapped after it. Eevee, who had been peacefully sitting on his shoulder, also sprang off, darting into the green glow after it. "No, not you Eevee, come back!" He called, but to no avail.   
"Maki, stay here," I ordered him, knowing full well he probably would not obey. "Come on Spike, let's get it." I did not know what effect the Leaf Stone would have on a Nidoran, probably very little. He did not have the highly irregular genetic code of an Eevee or –eon. An Eevee, what would a Leaf stone do to Eevee? I had no idea, but I charged down the tunnel after Kameron, almost skidding over in the wet clay.   
The Sandslash lay pinned to the ground, beneath the world's most determined Eevee. Sandslash was flailing with its talons, but Eevee was staying just out of reach, its teeth clamped on the Sandslash's throat. Dancer flapped above, looking confused and a little dazed, whilst Spike was clinging to one of it's tentacles. So far nothing untoward had happened.   
"Go Pokeball," cried Kameron, and I had no idea where he'd been hiding the thing. Probably he'd grabbed it when we had collected the full ones. The Sandslash made a spirited attempt to get away, but Spike threw himself at its leg, still clinging to its tentacle, knocking it down. The ball flashed, twitched once or twice and was then still. The Nidoran pranced around it happily.   
"Nido, nidoran!" He said proudly.   
Eevee, on the other hand, had a strained look on its face and the glow that surrounded it was greater than that of the stone.   
"It's evolving," Kameron muttered, sounding awed by it all. "My Eevee is evolving because of a Leaf Stone!"   
The light settled around a creature about the same size as Flareon, with a ruff of what appeared to be leaves around its neck. Its fur was a greenish colour, darker on the forehead, and its tail was peculiar. It had a long, narrow tail, terminating in a great ball of needle like spines. It shook itself.   
"What is that?" Kameron asked, as the Grass Eeveelution pranced over to him, looking dazed.   
It looked up at him with big dark eyes. "Flori-Florian!" It stated.   
"I guess that's your answer then Kam," I chuckled. "It's Florian. Now, let's get out of here and have some breakfast."   
"Hear hear," Kameron chuckled. "And to think I was trying to steal rare Pokemon, yet now I have caught two of my own. Wouldn't Team Rocket be jealous if they knew!"


	4. Fossils and Farewells

  


# Fossils and Farewells

  


"Are you sure this is where the dig is supposed to be?" I asked. Maki was sitting on my shoulder, looking most subdued for one. He'd been like that ever since our adventure in the cave. I was starting to worry about him.   
Kameron patted the map. "Of course, I'm an expert map-reader, it has to be here. If it isn't, then the map is wrong."   
"Maki mak," Maki muttered, in complete disagreement.   
I smiled. "Well, Mr Expert at everything. I guess you'll really good at reading maps, even when they're upside down."   
He frowned at me, then hastefully turned the map over. "Oh look, its about another kilometre to the west."   
"Great," I sighed. My legs ached, my shoes were filled with mud and water and Spike was limping after he'd tried playing with a Crabby. I was not, however, going to admit defeat yet. Lake Eerie was huge, it had taken us the better part of the day to walk this far around it, and we were still not where we were meant to be. I had gotten hardly any sleep lst night too, after the Haunter had pulled down our tent and we had discovered the strange tunnel leading to the great Leaf Stone, we had been all but unable to return to slumber. Kameron had been too excited about his new Pokemon – the Shrubslash and Florian, to sleep and his enthusiasm had rubbed off on me. Kameron had left Florian out of his Pokeball, and the green Eeveelution was loping along by his side, always staying near Kameron. It seemed his nervousness had not completely worn off after he evolved.   
"You know," Kameron said, "if your packs too heavy for you, I'll carry it." He smiled in a way that was mildly condescending.   
"I'll be fine," I snapped back. "Are you sure you can cope with your pack?"   
We bickered a little as we walked along the lake shore. Maki rolled his eyes. A Redian skimmed past, and other, more typical, insects filled the air, falling prey to the larger, red bug Pokemon. Redian were not common, but both Kameron and I were too tired to try and capture it. 

It seemed an eternity before we finally reached the broad road that led to the archaelogical site. The wheel ruts were filled with water, looking as though nothing had driven over it in weeks. A four-wheel drive truck was parked beside a small hut, a hut that seemed to be held together by nothing but luck. On its bonnet sat a relatively young woman, looking to be about in her mid twenties. She was clad in brown-coloured working clothes and wore a large brimmed, cowboy style hat. She was scrawling something in a notebook.   
"Hiya," She said as we approached. "How can I help you?"   
"We've been sent here to pick up a fossil for the Siryntown Museaum of natural history. Some dragonfly Pokemon, or something?"   
"Ah, yes," she replied, "I received a message about your coming just a couple of days ago. However, your friends bet you here, they collected it yesterday afternoon."   
"Our friends?" Kameron and I asked in unison.   
"Yes," she looked puzzled, "a skinny young man with white hair and a short, somewhat attractive woman with four-toned hair, you don't know them? They were very clear as to why they were here."   
Kameron and I shared a look. "Loki and Freyja," he hissed. "I can't believe they bet us here. I can't believe they stole the fossil."   
The woman was growing increasingly perplexed. "You mean they're not your friends? Oh no, the Dr is going to kill me. I've given his fossil to the wrong people. They had all the forms and everything." She started figitting and looking horrified.   
"How can they have the forms, we have the forms!" Kameron exclaimed, opening his bag and pulling out a pile of papers. "See here they are! Uh oh."   
For instead of the papers being the official Siryntown Museum ones, they were pages with, scrawled on them in messy handwriting, "the Doc should never send kids to do adults work, F & L, TM RKT."   
"They must have stolen them from your bag, but how?"   
Kameron shrugged. "Probably when I accidently left it in the diner, back in the Eerie Village."   
"We're most sorry," I muttered. "We should have kept a better eye on the papers. I don't suppose Loki and Freyja said where they were headed?"   
The archaeologist shrugged. "Nope, they said they were going back to Siryntown, but I'd be willing to bet that they lied about that too. What can I do? That thing was worth a fortune. It had never been seen before!"   
"You're the only one here, aren't you?" Kameron asked. "Where's everyone else, why is the site closed?"   
"It was being funded by the Department of Natural History. Unfortunately, after digging for ages, excavating the ancient caverns, we didn't have that much to show for it, and they cut out grant. Without money, everyone left, except me. Then a kid got lost in the caverns – there's lots of them under Lake Eerie, a literal catacomb, and when he finally got out, he said he had a lump of amber, with a tiny, bizarre Pokemon trapped in it. We went back in, and found the dragonfly Pokemon fossil. If we could get the fossil to a museum, they could work out how much it was worth, and then perhaps the Department would give us more money. But now we've lost the fossil…" She began sobbing, and pulled out a much stained hankerchef. "They'll never give us money now," she sobbed.   
"Sure they will, Kam and I'll find your fossil," I stated dramatically. "Never fear!"   
"We will?" Kameron asked, a little bit reluctantly.   
"Of course, it's the least we can do."   
"Well," Kameron pointed out, "it isn't, it's the most we can do, the least we can do is absolutely nothing."   
I frowned at him, even Maki pulled a face.   
"That's wonderful," the woman replied. "My name is Charissa, Charissa Chapman, and I will be very grateful for any help you can give me. If there is anything I can do, just ask."   
Something occurred to me, "in all your digging and so forth, have you ever found large stones, like a Leaf Stone?"   
"Funny you should ask that," Charissa replied. "There are legends thad say that Lake Eerie formed in the crater of an extinct volcano, and that beneath its surface are giant stones – a fire stone, a water stone, a leaf stone, a thunder stone and a moon stone. When we started the dig we were hoping to find one of these, but so far, nothing but legends."   
I glanced at Kameron, wondering if we should tell her.   
She continued, "some say that these stones will remain hidden from any who seek them for profit or personal gain, and only those who stumble upon them by accident shall find them. I know some children have been lost in the caverns and come back telling tales of great glowing rocks. I've never seen one, nor shall I, as long as I keep looking."   
I smiled grimly. It probably would be little point to tell her about the Leaf Stone. Let it stay hidden for now.   
"I don't suppose you have a map of these caverns?" Kameron asked.   
"Wait here," she replied. "We compiled quite a selection of maps of the caverns and joined them together – in case of us getting lost. I'm sure I'll find one that can be of use." She scurried away.   
Kameron looked at me. "Why do you want to help her?" He asked, almost snidely.   
"If you don't remember," I pointed out, "it's you that had the papers, you that lost them. Besides, I'm sure you know where Team Rocket's Headquarters are around here."   
He nodded. "Yeah, that's why I need the maps."   
"They're in the caverns?!"   
"I think that would be the case. And I think Ozmos probably knows where the water stone is too."   
I nodded. "I had guessed that, it's the feet that tipped me off."   
Kameron's next sentence was disturbed by Charissa running back out, waving a yellowing sheet of paper.   
"Here it is, a map of the northern caverns." She handed us the large piece of parchment. "The tunnels lined in red are places we could not go, for rockslides, or other dangerous obstacles. Stay away from those kids, and, in case you get lost." She handed us a small metal box with a red button on it, a short aerial and a speaker. "If you get lost, push this button and I'll be able to get a signal of where you are in the caverns. If you get in trouble, push it twice, fast, and I'll send help as soon as I hear it."   
I accepted the box and handed Kameron the map, praying he wouldn't get it upside down this time. "Thanks," I replied, "we'll get your fossil back, never fear."   
"Maki!" Maki agreed.

We leaned over the map, Maki sitting at one end, tracing his small black hand along the passageway.   
"This is where we are at the moment," Kameron pointed, "and this, I believe is where Team Rocket's Headquarters are." He pointed at a patch beyond a red barrier line and just below a small hillock. "I guess that's where we go," he sighed tiredly. "I really wish I didn't have to do this," he muttered, almost to himself.   
"Do what?" I asked.   
He shrugged, "face Team Rocket again."   
"Well, no point in hanging around getting maudlin. Let's get going, before they move the fossil out of here. Come on Maki, come on Spike." Maki sprang to my shoulder and Spike stopped teasing another Crabby. He just didn't seem to learn his lesson, the thing was twice his size, after all. He trotted dutifully after me.   
Kameron pushed his way into the thicket, the thorns speared through my thin, sweat-soaked clothing, and caused beadlets of blood to form. Maki took cover inside my backpack. Kameron, at least, had his ever present trench coat and Spike had his tough hide. Eventually the thicket opened into a path. It was plainly a relatively well-used path, for it was flattened, and mostly dry, unlike the surrounding soil. Kameron followed this for a while, oddly quiet, and we came to a staircase hewn up the side of the hill. It was oddly quiet here, there was no noise except for a Venonat somewhere in the distance, that we could just hear. Even Maki stayed close to me, seemingly unwilling to venture further in exploration. It was probably getting on to late afternoon now.   
"These headquaters are not commonly used," Kameron hissed at me, as though scared to speak aloud. "They are only temporary ones for Rocket members visiting Lake Eerie or lying low for a while. There will probably only be Loki and Freyja here, maybe a couple of others, waiting for a helicopter to lift out the fossil. If we're lucky, they'll keep it here until tomorrow."   
I nodded. "I better give my Pokemon a rest, we might need them, Spike, return." Spike disappeared into his Pokeball. Maki, of course, was resting on my shoulder.   
Suddenly we reached the top of the hill, and the path terminated at a tiny wooden cottage. It appeared to have been here for centuries, and not be around for much longer. It somewhat reminded me of the gingerbread cottage where the wicked witch lived. It was dark colours, with white frillings painted around the windows. Most of the glass appeared to be broken, and the front lawn had apparently not been mowed in the last century.   
"Makimur," Maki muttered in a worried tone. I glanced at Kameron.   
"This is it, yes?" I asked.   
He nodded mutely.   
We continued up the staircase and I peered in the window. Suddenly something swooped down from the roof in an easy soar.   
"Fearowwww!" It screeched, flapping its wings at me so hard that I was blown backwards and tumbled down the staircase. Maki screamed and leapt from my shoulder. Pain flowered down my spine and limbs as I managed to halt my tumble. Kameron stood at the top of the staircase, his face pale, concerned.   
"Kat," he cried almost pitifully. "Are you ok?"   
I tried to nod, but my head was throbbing too badly. The Fearow swooped on me again. My hand fumbled at my belt, freeing one of my Pokeballs, "go whomever you are!" I cried, praying it was vaporeon or flareon.   
"Seadraaa!" Razor cried, flapping into the air for a few feet before tumbling into the dirt. "Seadra, sea dra dra." He muttered.   
It was too late, the Fearow was upon me, pumelling me with its huge, powerful wings. "Kameron, save Razor!" I shrieked, unable to scoop him up. The pain was immense, red flashes appeared in front of my eyes.   
"Maki!!!" Maki shrieked, from somewhere behind the Fearow.   
"Florion!!!" I heard Kameron's Florion cry, followed by the sound of a series of small objects being hurtled through the air.   
"Fearowww!" Fearow shrieked in pain, drawing back and trying to shake off the Makimur that clung to its back. Maki had gripped its neck firmly in his sharp little canine teeth, and appeared to be trying to tear it apart. Feathers drifted down. Protuding from the Fearow's wings and back were small needle-like spines, the skin around them turning pinker and pinker. Suddenly the Fearow lurched into the air, and Maki dropped off, landing delicately on his feet. Florion rushed over to sniff him, but the Makimur rushed to my side.   
"Maki maki murr?" He asked, his voice filled with concern. He tried to make my wounds better by touching them with his hands.   
"Oh, isn't this sweet?" Came a voice from above and I could see why Kameron had not rushed to help me, for Freyja was holding him tightly. Kameron fumed and glared.   
"Fearow, return," Loki called, coming up beside him. The Fearow had made it into the branches of the tree then collapsed, stretched across the branches like a macabre kite. "Go Kadabra, paralyze them."   
"Kadabra!" The Psychic Pokemon waved his spoon and I felt my body stiffen, more than it already was. My muscles felt as though they were made of lead.   
"No," Kameron whispered, as Maki collapsed onto my chest.   
Loki strode down and scooped the little Pokemon up. Beadlets of sweat were trickling down Maki's face.   
"MaKI!" He shrieked, twisting around in Loki's hand and clamping on to his thumb. His eyes glowed for a minute and Loki staggered backwards. But even that had little effect on the Rocket, he pulled a drawstring bag from his pocket and dumped Maki in there, stopping to scoop up Razor, who still lay on the ground, wiggling feebly. He must have tried a watergun attack, for a small pond had formed about him, but not enough to swim in.   
"Two for the price of one," Loki said cheerfully. "Good job Kameron!"   
"What?" My lips tried to form the words, but I couldn't say them. I could not even see up to the top of the staircase, where Kameron was being held captive. I didn't have to, for a moment later, Freyja came skipping cheerfully down.   
She reached down and removed the Pokeballs from my belt, dropping them into a burlap bag of her own. "I guess you're wondering why you're hair, girlie," she said, nicely enough. "See, your little boyfriend has been working for us all along. So now we've got the Makimur, we've got your Seadra, your Vaporeon, your Nidoran and your Flareon. The boss will be proud of us. He'll be especially proud of Kameron, the kid'll probably get a raise."   
"And to think that he actually convinced you he was your friend," Loki chuckled. "Good little actor isn't he. He left the bag behind at the diner so that Abra could sneak in and change the papers, and then delayed your trip around the lakeside so that we could get the fossil, and a very nice fossil it is too."   
My heart had all but shattered. Why had I trusted him? How could I have been so blind, so stupid? Now I was going to be left here, broken and bleeding at the bottom of a staircase in a place noone knew about. I think I'd cracked a couple of ribs on the tumble down. And I'd lost my Pokemon, my friend, everything. The bastard. The depression almost overwelmed me. I could feel the paralysis wearing off, but could not put in any effort to speak.   
Loki loomed over me, his long silver hair hanging across his eyes. "Are we just going to leave her here, Freyja?" He queried. "I think she might be dying."   
"Does it matter?" Freyja asked, "one less squirt to worry about."   
Loki shrugged. "But in case she does manage to get up and walk away, Kadabra, amnesia attack."   
"Ka-da-braaaa!" Kadabra muttered, staddling me, its large tail pressed against my chest. It placed its spoon on my forehead. The spoon was cold, chilling. I could not do anything. "Ka-dab- BRA!" It shouted, and I felt the psychic waves bore into my head.   
"Not everything," Loki shouted. "Leave in her memories of the betrayal, just take out those that could lead her here. Make her forget this place!"   
"Kadabra dabra."   
And then everything went black, black and red.

Bright lights blazed against my pupils as I forced my eyes open. They felt as though they were made of lead. Something was tight about my chest and it took me a moment to realise that my ribs were bandaged up tightly. I was in hospital.   
"She's awake," a hoarse voice whispered. A familiar voice.   
"Rowan?" I whispered. It felt as though my throat had been drained of all moisture.   
"Yep," he replied, sounding more cheerful, but there was still a quiver in his voice. "Kat, are you ok? You've been out of it for about two days."   
"Two days? What happened?" I tried to pull myself into a sitting position, and my head spun and my chest ached. "I remember someone stealing my Pokemon."   
Rowan nodded. "You were found at the dig on the northern shore of Lake Eerie, a woman named Charissa Chapman brought you in. She said you were delirious and kept muttering about betrayal and how you had been hurt and how you wanted to see Maki. But all your belongings and Pokemon had been stolen. You had injured ribs, concussion and mild amnesia, as well as more bruises than they could count. Do you remember what happened?"   
"It was them, Spaceship or Rocket or something. A giant bird knocked me down some stairs, then a weird looking person stole my memories and my Pokemon. Kameron, where's Kameron?"   
"Kameron's gone, noone knows where. Was he with you at the time?" Rowan had been told only a little about Kameron and had never met him.   
"He, he, gave me to them, led me to them, betrayed me," a tear trickled down my cheek, Rowan dabbed it away with a piece of cloth.   
"Don't cry," he whispered, "I'm here and everything will be alright." He kissed me on the cheek. "Now, I've brought someone I'd like you to meet."   
"Maki?" I whispered.   
"I'm afraid not," he replied, "but I'm sure you're want to meet this fellow. Come on Electra, I'd like you to meet Kataryna."   
"Jolteon!" The golden yellow Eeveelution jumped onto the bed and licked me. Her tongue tickled slightly, as though a very small voltage was pressed agaisnt my skin.   
I almost smiled. "I see you evolved her after all," I replied, patting the Jolteon's furry chest. She lay down and nudged me with her spiky ruff. "Kameron had a Florion," I continued. "It was green, now between us we have the whole set." Then reality dawned on me again, "except now he's got them all and I have nothing, not even him!"   
Rowan sat on the bed and put his arm around my shoulders. "He meant a lot to you didn't he," he said, it wasn't a question.   
"We were friends," I muttered, realising that in my heart I had wanted to be more, "I trusted him. He failed me."   
"I'll get him for you," Rowan replied sweetly, "noone hurts my friend Kataryna and gets away with it."   
Suddenly something occurred to me. "Why are you here? How did you know I was in hospital?"   
"Charissa knew your name, so they called your mother. Unfortunately, she was too busy to come visit you, so I came instead."   
That brought on a new rush of tears. My mother didn't care enough to visit me. She hadn't cared when I went off on my adventures, and didn't care enough to come and visit me now I was in hospital with injured ribs. But Rowan had came, even though his father was still ailing, he had come the long distance from Derriby Island to Eerie Village. My mother had not cared. Kameron did not care. Only Rowan cared, and, it seemed, Electra the Jolteon. "Thank you," I whispered.   
He smiled. "I've missed you Kat, I've missed our adventures. I've even missed little Maki."   
"I missed you too," I replied. "How's your father?"   
"Not good," he said. "The doctor doesn't think he'll make it through the next winter. It's his lungs. I can't run off on an adventure again, mother needs me, but why don't you come home with me – if you don't get your Pokemon back, that is."   
I smiled grimly. "I can't go home Rowan," I replied, in all honesty, "I can't go back to my mother with her multitude of male friends and her controlling attitude. I don't want to go back and be a servant in my own home, as much as I would like to spend more time with you."   
Rowan sighed. He knew all about my mother of course, how she made me do all the household chores from the time I was old enough to push a broom, how she refused to let me go out after nine at night. Everything. It was a miracle she had even allowed me to go off to search for Pokemon, but I suspected the reason for that was she had wanted me out of the house for a while. She certainly did not seem worried that I was in hospital, I had not received even a card from her. "I guess I expected that," he replied, sadly.   
I noticed two bouquets of flowers on my bedside table, and a card. "Who are those from?" I asked.   
Rowan picked one up, "this is from me," he said, "and the card is," he peered at it, "from, well, I'll let you read it. I think this bunch is from the same person" He handed it to me.   
It was written in that neat, painstaking printing that was quite familiar to me. It said: "I'm so sorry Kat, I never meant to hurt you, they tricked me. I don't expect I'll ever see you again, but I hope that one day, you might forgive me, love, Kameron." Tears streaming down my face, I tore it in half and threw it across the room.   
"Jolteon?" Electra seemed puzzled. "Jolt eon, eon."   
"I know," Rowan said, patting the Jolteon on her head. "I know."   
"Know what?" I asked, "you can understand her?"   
"Of course," he replied. "It's easy to understand Pokemon, you just have to listen with your heart instead of your mind."   
I gave him a puzzled look. "What does that mean exactly?"   
"Jolt, jolteon jolt jolt eon eon," the Jolteon continued.   
Rowan nodded again. "Think with your heart, ok," he said, "now, do you think Kameron would betray you?"   
I paused. I thought. Certainly it looked as though Kameron had betrayed me, and as though he had never felt anything for me, beyond getting his job done, but… I was sure he liked me. I thought about the way he had helped me save Maki from Team Rocket, with the aid of the Cloud Wolf, how he had smiled at me the night before the betrayal, a smile of excitement and joy, and I didn't know. I shrugged. "I don't know, I don't think so, but he could just be a very good actor."   
"And the note?"   
"Could mean anything, could be a cruel joke!"   
"He wrote "love"," Rowan continued mercilessly. "How many men do you think would do that?"   
"I don't know," I snapped. "And I don't care, he betrayed me and left me to die!"   
Rowan shrugged. "I think you have your answer then. So, when do you think we'll be up to getting your Pokemon back?"   
I gave him an incredulous look. "How? It's been two days, they could be anywhere by now. I'd love to get them back, Maki, Ozmos, Spike and Razor, I miss them all, even Flareon and I didn't really do enough with him. Not nearly enough at all." I lost it again, and Electra nuzzled me.   
"I'll do my best to find where they could be," Rowan grinned. "I do have contacts you know, not many, but… I just want you to be happy," he muttered.   
"I'm glad you're here," I said, giving him a hug. He hugged me so hard that I worried for my ribs. "I don't know how I'd be without you. Probably a wreck."   
"Nah," he replied. "You could never be a nervous wreck, Kat, you're too stubborn, too determined, you've got a fire in you that can't be drenched. Now, what do these Rockets look like?"   
I described them in as much detail as I could remember, and memories flooded back to me properly now. The only thing that I could not recall, no matter how hard I tried, was where the cottage had been, or even what it looked like. There just seemed to be a hole in my memories.   
"Don't worry," Rowan patted me on the shoulder. "We'll find them, and you'll get back your Maki."   
I smiled, although it almost hurt. "I hope I'm up and able to walk soon."

I was, within the next couple of days. It turned out my ribs had not been broken at all, merely badly bruised, and although still painful to the touch, I could walk comfortably. Rowan had some good news for me too.   
"Kat, we have had some luck tracking down your Team Rocket fiends – apparently they've been seen about 100 kms of here. They tried to snatch a little girl's pikachu. Don't ask me what a little girl was doing with a Pikachu, it's probably shocking." He chuckled a little at his own lame joke.   
"Well, where's the place? Let's go!"   
"It's a small village known as Serenti, up in the mountains. Why they're there, who knows? Maybe they're trying to hide out. Anyway, I've booked us bus tickets and all." He waved two slips of paper at me. "So, let's get you discharged and out of here."   
"Oh, thank you so much Rowan," I replied gratefully. This was a side of Rowan I hadn't seen before, the reckless side, yes, but the thoughtful side… Probably the years at home had done him good.   
"Oh yeah," he said with a grin, "guess what, Flame evolved! I now have a Nine-tails and I call her Mercury, because she's quick and silver. She's beautiful, but occasionally a little spiteful."   
I grinned, no wonder Maki did not want to evolve, his personality would change too. I liked him as he was, just right. He was wilfull enough as it was, and if he evolved he would probably be near nigh impossible to train.   
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"   
"Um, Rowan," I said, fingering the bus ticket. "The bus doesn't leave until tomorrow morning."   
He rolled his eyes. "I know that, I thought that we could take a walk in the woods near the archaelogical site and see if you could remember anything."   
"I haven't forgotten much," I replied. "Just where the place is."   
"That's all you have found that you can't remember," Rowan reminded me, "there may be other things we just haven't tried to work out yet. Besides, maybe they'll have left something behind."   
I shrugged. We might as well do something, and this seemed a better idea then sitting around getting anxious. I did not like to tell Rowan, but my ribs hurt a bit as well. But I could not hang around doing nothing anymore. "Let's go."   
I got myself discharged and we left, walking towards the archaelogical site.

"How ya doing girl?" Charissa asked. "I was rather concerned when you turned up here. Strange too, because you appeared to have been carried here by a big bird, and dumped on my doorstep."   
"A Fearow?" I asked, since it was the only big bird I had seen recently. Perhaps Team Rocket hadn't cared to leave me to die after all.   
Charissa shrugged. "Could've been, I didn't really see it too well. Oh yes, this little critter turned up about two days ago, I was wondering if you knew where it came from."   
My heart jumped, had one of my Pokemon escaped? Charissa gestured and called, and out bounded a familiar beast.   
"Flori florion!"   
Florion leapt enthusiastically into my arms and nuzzled me, his leave-like ruff surprisingly soft against my neck. The impact hurt my ribs somewhat though.   
"What is that?" Rowan asked, and I forgot I hadn't told him.   
"This is Eevee evolved with a Leaf Stone," I replied. "It calls itself Florion. It's one of Kameron's Pokemon."   
"Perhaps he let it go to find you?" Rowan, the optomist, suggested.   
I shook my head, "no, more likely it just managed to escape after it attacked Fearow. It's good to see you Florion."   
"Flor Flor florion!"   
"Do you know what that means?" Rowan asked me.   
"It's good to see you too?" I hazarded a guess.   
"Flor i on!" Florion agreed.   
Rowan chuckled. "It's a little sweetie, perhaps it can show us the cottage. Florion, can you?"   
Florion shivered a bit, it looked as though his personality had not changed that much when he evolved. Finally he nodded. "Flori!"   
"Ok, bye Charissa, thanks for looking after him! Come on, show us!"   
Florion leapt up and bounded across the dirt and into the forest. We pushed after it and eventually found ourselves at the cottage. It shuddered as I remembered my horrible experience there and gritted my teeth against the growing pain in my chest. It was not pleasant, not pleasant at all, but I didn't like to tell Rowan. I'd cope, I had to find my Pokemon!   
"Come on Mercury," Rowan said, and the beautiful Nine-tails appeared, waving her nine tails.   
"Nine, nine!" She yipped.   
"Mercury," he instructed, "could you find a scent here, there should be three – a lady, a man and a boy, about my age. Do you think you can find them?"   
"Nine tails, nine!" She replied haughtily ("of course I can, I can do anything"?). Mercury began sniffing around. Suddenly she shuddered.   
"Nine!"   
"Let me guess," I said, "you don't like the smell of Kadabra?"   
"Tails!" She nodded. "Nine, nine tails tails."   
"You've got the scents?" Rowan asked. "Good, remember them, and we'll use them later to track Team Rocket in Sereniti. Come on, let's have a look at this cottage."   
The door was locked, but one of the windows did not shut properly and Rowan had it open in no time. Inside, the place was small and sparsely furnished. A couch that looked to be on the verge of death, a tv so old-fashioned it was a wonder it even worked, if it did, a stereo which played vinyl. There was a kitchen, with the usual mixed assortment of plates, bowls and cutlery generally found in places where the inhabitants constantly changed. Nothing matched. The larder was empty save for a few tins of beans, soup and spaghetti. There were two bedrooms, both with two bunkbeds in them, also worn and looked to be on the verge of extinction, and a door leading down into the basement.   
The basement was much more interesting. A large metal cage stood against one wall, with a large padlock shoved through the door. There was a machine here to transport Pokeballs and this I switched on, making sure to leave the visuals off.   
Rowan stood beside me. "You want to see where your Pokemon have got to, don't you?" He replied. "Let me have a look, I've been practising with these things." He leaned over and started pushing buttons. I sat there anxiously, half hoping he would find my Pokemon so I would at least know where they were, half hoping he didn't, because I didn't know how to get them back. "I found one," he said, "a vaporeon, transported just a couple of days ago. Does that sound like the one?"   
I nodded. "Can you get her back?"   
"I can try," he pushed some buttons and the machine started beeping. "I guess not… The password can't be cracked and I don't think I'll be able to easily guess what it is. I suppose we go on to Sereniti and do our best there."   
I sighed. So Vaporeon was at some other Team Rocket base somewhere, and we could not reach her. "Come on, let's get out of here," I was on the verge of tears, my ribs ached and my heart throbbed with the pain of losing my Pokemon. Florion licked my face. We couldn't even put him away in a Pokeball for a rest, as I did not have his ball, or a spare one. Team Rocket had taken them all. I stroked his head. "You want to find Vaporeon too, don't you?" I asked him.   
"Flor!" He nodded.   
Suddenly I heard a noise upstairs.   
"Oh cripes!" Rowan exclaimed. "Someone's come in!"   
The machine was still beeping. "Let's get out of here."   
"How? The only way is up the stairs!"   
"Then up the stairs we go!"   
"FloriON!" We charged up the stairs in a mass, shocking the elderly man who was about to investigate.   
"Intruders!" He shouted, "stop them Machoke!"   
"MA-choke!" The fighting Pokemon jumped in front of us, punching out with its massive fist. Florion intercepted before I could shout anything.   
The Eeveelution shook his head swiftly, sending leaves from his ruff flying into the air and lodging into the Machoke's hide. The act of shaking leaves did not seem to deplete the Pokemon's ruff in anyway. It did, however, cause the Machoke to stumble backwards.   
"Karate chop!" The man shouted.   
"Go Mercury!" Rowan shouted.   
"Nine!"   
Mercury exhaled sharply, sending a huge plume of fire spinning at the Machoke. It punched through the flame, sending Mercury tumbling backwards a few paces, then sunk to its knees.   
"Florion, finish it off with your Poison Needle's attack!" I shouted. Florion flicked his tail in the air, sending the needles spinning into the Machoke, which collapsed.   
The elderly man backed up. "Please don't hurt me," he pleaded. "I'm just the caretaker. I'm just making sure everything's ok in here. Don't hurt me."   
His fear got to me. "Everything is just fine, as you can see," I replied, trying to ignore the pain in my ribs, "so collect your Machoke and return back to your home, safe in the knowledge that you've done oyur job properly."   
He backed up, plainly scared of Florion and Nine-tails, who had just staggered to her feet. She looked bet.   
"Nine-tails, return," Rowan scooped her up. The caretaker took another step back.   
"Since everything is well here, I'll just leave and lock the door as soon as the place is empty then," he muttered.   
"It's ok, " Rowan said. "We were just leaving anyway, see you!" And we walked out, Florion watching him over my shoulder as I carried it out.   
"That's a pretty cool Pokemon," Rowan said, once we were safely outside and walking down the hated staircase. "It's a shame its not yours – it seems to like you."   
"Flori-on!" Florion noded.   
"I think it is mine now," I replied. "I'm just glad to have a Pokemon of my own. But what I can't figure out, is if Kameron double crossed me, how come he didn't bother looking for his Florion? It was very fond of him, if I do recall."   
Rowan shrugged. "Isn't it just remotely possible that Kameron did not double cross you?" He asked. "That it's all a ploy by Team Rocket to split you two up."   
"Everything fits so neatly into place though," I argued. "He's still with Team Rocket, I know it!"

The bus trip to Sereniti was picturesque, but I was hardly in the mood for scenary. The road wound up through mountain passes, and above the snowline, where the trees were topped with white, like icing on a cake. Florion, sitting on my lap, seemed to enjoy it, but I was too busy taking panadol for the pain and trying to get some sleep that it was much harder for me.   
Suddenly the bus stopped. We were outside a small village that the sign said was called "Fernbarrow." A sign by the road read "The High Mountain Road is CLOSED due to extremem snowfall."   
The bus driver cursed to himself and spoke over the loudspeaker."Due to unforseen snowfall in the last few days, the road from Fernbarrow to Sereniti is currently impassable. Hopefully it will be cleared in the next day or two, until then, I'm afraid you shall have to stay here."   
Beside me, Rowan cursed. I hadn't heard him curse before. It was only us and two other people left in the bus. On of them was a young woman about our age. I smiled at her.   
"This is a real pain," she muttered. "I was supposed to visit my boyfriend in Sereniti and try out in the gym there."   
"There's a gym in Sereniti?" I asked, somewhat awed.   
"Yeah, only a small one, it's a flying Pokemon gym. I wanted to try and get my Air Badge. I guess I'll just have to wait though."   
"We have to go to Sereniti to get back my Pokemon," I said. "I can't wait here for a few days. I'll go crazy with worry."   
Rowan looked at me, "at least you know that they won't be able to get out if we can't get in."   
"But they can put the Pokeballs in the Transportation machine." I replied. "We have to go up there today!"   
Rowan pulled the two of us outside. "We can do it," he said. He looked at the girl, "what's your name and how many Pokemon do you have?"   
"I'm Stephanie," she replied. "I have a Charmeleon, a Bulbasaur, a Pidgeotto, a Raticate and a Beedrill," she smiled. "I've got two flying types so I thought I'd do quite well in the gym. What is that by the way?" She asked, looking at Florion. "It looks a little like Jolteon, but green…"   
"This is Florion," I replied, "a grass Eeveelution. I'm Kataryna, but everyone calls me Kat, and this is Rowan. We're heading up the mountain now, do you want to join us? You Charmeleon will be useful."   
She shrugged. "It's better than hanging around here in the snow, waiting. Come on, let's go!" We all clothed ourselves in our warmest clothing and set off up the road leading to Sereniti.   
"It's only about five kilometres," Stephanie informed us, "so we shouldn't take too long."   
The snow was horrible thick, I could see why the roads were closed, and it was incredibly cold. Mercury and Charmeleon were brought out of their Pokeballs and they melted a path for us. I was kept warm by Florion, who despite his size, insisted on being carried. By the time we had travelled about a kilometre, my arms were sore, my eyes wept from the sunlight shining off the snow and I was rather cold. We were making good time though, because if things got too difficult, the Fire Pokemon merely melted the snow with their flaming breath. Luckily we had the road to follow, some of the road markers still peered above the snow, otherwise we would surely have got lost.   
We had just reached a sign that said "Sereniti 1 km" when I heard something snarling.   
"What's that?" I asked. Florion leapt out of my arms.   
"Flori, flori!" He cried, excitedly.   
Crouching against a tree was a strange dog-like Pokemon. It looked savage but had backed up against the tree and had its strange flap-like ears down with fear. Snarling at it, was a purplish rabbit-like Pokemon, who turned to greet me.   
"Nido nidoran!" Spike shouted joyeously, throwing himself into my arms. He licked my face. The bulldog Pokemon took the chance to retreat around the tree, and suddenly squealed.   
"Buru!" It was high pitched, almost yipping.   
I patted Spike on the head and put him down, walking around the tree to investigate. The snow had covered a hole in the ground, possibly a nidoran burrow, and it was into this the strange Pokemon was sinking. It was already up to its neck.   
"Stay calm," I whispered to it, leaning over and picking it up under the arms. As soon as I had a grip on it, it went limp.   
"Buru," it whimpered pathetically.   
I showed it to Rowan and Stephanie.   
"What in Hades is that?" Rowan asked, but Stephanie had already pulled out a small electronic device.   
"Buru," it said in a tinny voice, "the bulldog Pokemon. This Pokemon is very savage and will do anything to protect its home." I looked at the Buru that hung in my hands.   
"Oh, very savage," I said. Buru whimpered.   
Rowan chuckled. "What an apt description for something that was fazed by a Nidoran."   
Spike rubbed his ears against my leg. "Nido, nid, nid o rannn!"   
"BuRU!" The Buru barked.   
"What am I going to do with it?" I asked. "I can't catch it, cos I haven't any Pokeballs, but the poor thing is lost, cold and afraid."   
Rowan shrugged. I set the Bulldog Pokemon down.   
"Buru," I asked, "do you want to come with us? We won't hurt you, and we'll take you into town because you might belong to someone."   
The Buru pondered for a moment. "BuRU!" It barked, "bu ruru."   
"Is that a yes?"   
It nodded.   
"Ok," I said, "but I'm afraid you're going to have to walk, I can't carry all of you."   
Stephanie smiled. "I have a spare Pokeball you can have, if you like." She said, throwing it at me.   
I caught it with ease, despite the chill in my chest. "But don't you want Buru?" I asked.   
She shook her head. "I want to be a master Trainer, and that thing is scared of Nidorans, imagine what it'd be like in a tournament."   
I had to agree there, but a nervous Buru seemed to fit in well with my collection – an overly aggressive Nidoran, an overweight Vaporeon, a Makimur with a two second attention span… It had never really occurred to me that I could fight in a tournament, sure, my Pokemon listened to me when it was important, but I remembered the near disaster of the fight against Maria. I wouldn't last five minutes in a stadium battle. "Buru, take a rest in my Pokeball," I said, and the Buru allowed itself to be scooped up.   
"Wow," exclaimed Stephanie, "that's the first time I've ever seen someone capture a Pokemon without fighting it first! You must be good at something, Pokemon seem to like you!" The girl spoke with way too many exclaimation marks for me.   
"Spike," I said, "you escaped Team Rocket, didn't you?"   
"Nido," he agreed.   
"So you could lead us to their Headquaters?"   
"Nido."   
"Are Razor, Maki and the others still there?"   
"Nidd," Spike shook his head.   
"So Ozmos is missing, how about the others?"   
Spike tried to shrug.   
"Well," I informed the others, "we can at least try. I'm afraid you'll have to walk Spike, unless you happen to have brought your Pokeball with you."   
Spike gave me a puzzled look.   
"I'm getting cold," Rowan muttered, "can we move on please?"   
"Sorry," I replied. So now I had a Buru, whatever that did, not that I imagined mine would do much of anything. I did not collect Pokemon for their fighting skills though, I collected them because I liked them and they were my friends. I'd never had many friends, and there was something about the loyalty showed by Spike, Maki and the others, that made me feel happy inside. It did not seem right to put them against each other in battle, unless it was absolutely necessary.

We got into Sereniti less than an hour later. It had started snowing, which made it difficult to see, and my ribs were hurting. Plus, Spike's short legs had trouble with the snowdrifts and Florion insisted on being carried, although Rowan had taken that burden off me when it became obvious I was in pain. We stumbled into a quaint Olde World Inne and ordered hot soup.   
Sereniti was a fairly old-fashioned looking town, with its quaint Old-style villas, and with the Inn. It was like stepping back in time. It was hard to believe that this was where the thieves were hiding away, it was hard to believe that this was a world of technology and noise. If there was any place that was laid back, it was Sereniti. The name said it all. The village was surrounded by pine trees, their leaves weighed down with snow. Beneath the round wooden table, Spike and Florion slurped away at a bowl of chicken and corn soup, which seemed an unusual diet for them, but I wasn't about to complain. Beside the table, Rowan's Nine-tails gnawed on a beef leg bone and the Charmeleon sat at the table, eating thick soup with surprising dexterity. We had decided to feed them before putting them into their Pokeballs, it seemed only fair, after all the hard-work they'd done.   
"You really walked into town from Fernbarrow?" The waitress, a girl in her mid teens clad in Ye Olde Style uniform, asked Rowan. She seemed suitably impressed by this.   
"Of course," Stephanie replied, "I'd hate to miss visiting your fine gym."   
The waitress smiled, "so you're all Pokemon trainers, good on you." Then she was called away by another table.   
Rowan grinned at us, "I think she likes me," he said, "isn't she pretty?"   
Stephanie, who had short, mousy hair and lots of freckles blushed. She like's him too, I thought to myself. Poor girl.   
Spike had finished his soup and clambered up into my lap, resting his head on the table. "Nido?" He asked.   
I handed him one of my fries, which he snapped eagerly, licking my fingers.   
"That Nidoran is such a sweetie," Stephanie said.   
I chuckled. "When I first got him he was the most vicious thing on four legs. He almost maimed someone's Eevee when I was walking him and I used to have to keep him on a lead."   
Stephanie looked at me as if I were mad. "???"   
I explained Spike's background to her. She nodded. "Poor thing," and reached out to pat him. Spike lowered his ears but bore it with surprising patience.   
"That's really the same Nidoran you told me about?" Rowan asked.   
I nodded.   
"Wow," he said, "I think we've underestimated this girl's skills."   
I blushed, and continued feeding fries to the Nidoran. I didn't think I'd done anything amazing, I'd just treated my Pokemon with respect and love. Surely that was typical of all trainers?   
"Come on out and have something to eat, Buru," I said, bringing out its ball. It seemed cruel to deprive it of food when the others were eating.   
"Bururu," it cried, and cowered under the chair until I put Spike on the floor and picked it up. It helped itself to a fry and curled up in my lap, head resting on my shoulder.   
"You're just a snuggler, aren't you?" I said to it, and Rowan chuckled.   
"Vicious, my foot!" He said. "You might as well call it Snuggles."   
"Ru!" Buru agreed, and after that, the name sort of stuck.

That evening, as the sky was approaching twilight, Spike led us to the headquaters of Team Rocket. It was a rather large mansion on the outskirts of the quaint village. It appeared to have once been something like a castle, for it even had gargoyles adoring the roof, suffocating under the snow.   
"Now what?" I asked.   
"Well, we can hardly storm in there and demand your Pokemon back, can we?" Rowan pointed out. "We need a plan."   
"Well, we have six Pokemon to fight with – Ninetails, Pidgeotto, Jolteon, Florion, Nidoran and Buru, although I doubt the latter will fight and they're no match for that horrible Kadabra anyway. I wasn't even a match for Fearow. So we can't challenge them to a battle. We can't go to the police without evidence, and besides, surely Team Rocket are protected against that. What we really need to do is distract them."   
"But how? I mean, if we set the building on fire the snow will put it out, and besides, it could hurt my Pokemon inside."   
Rowan paused. "We could pretend that we want to join Team Rocket."   
"Hah, like they just take kids off the street, no, that'd never work. We could just try and sneak in."   
"Too risky."   
Suddenly Rowan grinned. "Or maybe not, I have an idea, come with me."

  
Rowan stood before the door, holding the box in one one hand, knocking with the other. The door was answered by none other than Loki, but he couldn't see me and he didn't recognise Rowan.   
"Your pizza, sir?" Rowan asked.   
"I didn't order any pizza," Loki mumbled.   
"Well, someone here did, it says," he fumbled with a miscellanious piece of paper. "Two chicken pizzas, with no anchovies, to 141 Highstead Ave. This is the right place, yes?"   
"Hang on," he said, "I'll go check. Freyja, Jeremy! Did you order pizza?"   
"Go Spike," I whispered, pushing the Nidoran through the door, which Loki had left open."   
"I think you've got the wrong place, kid," he said. "But we'll take the pizza anyway." He handed Rowan some money and took the pizza off him. "We could do with some food around here, pity about the lack of anchovies though."   
Rowan shrugged. "Sorry to disturb you sir. Thanks!" He waved the money.   
A moment later we heard a crash as Spike toppled something or another.   
"What's that Nidoran doing lose?" A muffled voice shouted. "Catch it."   
"Oh, now it's gone under the couch. I can hear it ripping the fabric with its horn. You idiot!"   
Rowan looked at me. "Let's go!"   
We darted around the building whilst they were distracted trying to extract Spike from their lounge suite and around to a back window. It was closed of course, but with all the noise the Nidoran was making, it would not be for long.   
We squeezed through the broken window and into a room probably used for sleeping. It was empty, although the bed showed sure signs of having been used recently. A bag of clothing lay scattered across the floor.   
"Come on," I whispered to Rowan and we opened the door, peering out into the hallway. It was deserted, shouts and bangs suggested that the Rockets were still involved in trying to catch Spike. We moved right down the hallway, away from the noise and had got part way down the hall when someone came out of one of the side rooms.   
"Hey, what are you kids doing in here?" She bellowed. "Get them."   
Instantly the door on the other side opened and out burst a man with shoulder length blue hair. "What is it, Jessie?" He asked.   
"Help me catch these twirps!" She shouted, as Rowan and I both made a dash for it.   
"We can't allow that," the man shouted, "go Wheezing, smog attack."   
"Wheezing, wheeze," the two headed gas ball wheezed in a sort of bored fashion.   
I fell to my knees, choking as I wiped my streaming eyes. I could see Rowan was having the same problem.   
"Goldflash," he said, calling out his Pidgeotto, "blow the smog back, hurry!"   
"Pidgeoooo!" Goldflash shrieked, flapping its wings and blowing the smoke back towards them.   
"Flori!" Florion shrieked in joy, biting the woman on the hand.   
But the Rockets were not done for yet. "Go Arbok, go Lickitung!" The woman shrieked, bringing out two Pokeballs.   
"Arrrrbok!" The cobra hissed.   
"Licki licki!" The pink creature came towards us.   
"Florion, do your stuff!" I shouted, as Florion lowered his head and shook his tail sending sharp, poisonous needles into the snake Pokemon. Arbok stopped suddenly, and Lickitung, who was too close behind it, stumbled into it. The hallway was way too crowded. Goldflash's wingspan took up most of the space.   
"Licki, Licki!" The Lickitung proceeded to walk over the stunned Arbok, and lashed at Florion with its tongue. Florion was thrown backwards.   
"Flor!" He cried as he hit the wall and stared out, eyes glazed.   
Rowan rolled his eyes. "Go Electra," he cried.   
"Jolt!"   
"Electra, thunder shock them all please." He said tiredly.   
"Jolt-e-ON!" Electra shrieked as Team Rocket were thrown backwards against the wall.   
Applause came from behind us. "Oh, very nice, very nice," said a familiar voice. "What a shame all the commotion just alerted us to your presence." Loki smiled at us. His eyes had a feral, dangerous glint to them. "Go on Kadabra, psyshock them all, would you be so kind."   
That bloody Kadabra, again. One day I'd just love to beat him. We tried to run, but behind us was Jessy and the blue-haired man, and the stunned Arbok and Lickitung. There was to be no retreating.   
"Go on Jolteon!" Rowan encouraged her, "get the Kadabra now!"   
Electra leapt, and was suddenly thrown back with some force and into Rowan. She barely managed to hold the electric shock back.   
"Kadabraa!" Kadabra said haughtily.   
"FloriON!" Florion had obviously recovered somewhat. He shook his head sending razor leaves sizzling through the air at the Kadabra.   
Which blocked them easily with a psychic shield.   
I was prepared for this however, and threw myself through the air and at Loki. The force of impact made my ribs ache, but Kadabra was too occupied to interfere and Loki was distracted by the attack. He fell against the wall, banging his head.   
"Call it off!" I shouted in his ear. "Or I'll get the Florion to poison you, and that wouldn't be too pleasant, no?"   
"Wouldn't that be lovely," said Freyja, walking up behind him. "Foolish child. Your Pokemon, feeble as they are, are no match for our Psychic Pokemon and you're vastly outnumbered. I suggest you surrender now, child, before it's too late."   
"Never," I shouted, half-dragging Loki across the floor. The pain was unbearable, but I clenched my teeth against it.   
"You really are a stupid little girl, aren't you?" Said another voice, and I saw that the woman could Jessie was advancing on Rowan. Rowan was pulling out a Pokeball.   
"Goldflash!" He cried, "Whirlwind now!"   
"Pidgeooo!" Unfortunately, the hallway was small and the bird could not fully unfurl its wings. It flapped them as best it could, sending everybody, except the man who was behind it, into a heap against the wall.   
"Meowth, no birdies going to get the best of me," something yowled, as something small and furry sprang onto the back of Goldflash. The Pidgeotto yoweld, and struggled madly, trying to knock Meowth off.   
"Pidgeotto, return," Rowan shouted, scooping up Goldflash.   
"Meouch," the talking cat yowled as it hit the floor.   
It was too late to try any tricks, because Team Rocket had us now. Loki grabbed me about the wrists, twisting my arms painfully behind my back and the blue-haired man, whom I guess was called James, because my cousin Ash had talked about Jessie, James and their talking Meowth often enough, had Rowan.   
Meowth looked at Jessie in astonishment. "Meowth, we actually caught them," it said in disbelief. "Not like those twirps Ash and Misty. Maybe this vacation is doing us some good."   
Jessie grinned. "Now let's throw them in the cells and find out why they're here." 

We were dragged downstairs and thrown into large cages that looked a lot like strange bird cages. This time they didn't hide our Pokeballs but left them sitting on a shelf outside the cage. Florion, they threw in with us. He whimpered and curled up close to my leg, battered and bruised and not much use at the moment.   
"Oh yeah," said Loki, "I forgot this fellow. Guess we better take more care with him this time." He tied a thick rope about Spike's neck so that the poor creature was bound to a table leg. The table was covered in books and old newspapers. Spike crouched there and muttered to himself.   
"Nido, nido, nido."   
"Don't tell me you've come to rescue that brainless little snit, Kameron," Loki said sitting on a stool near the cage. "He works for us you know, he did all along. Don't let your foolish little romantic thoughts distract you from that truth." He was not looking at Spike, who was crouching, lips curled back in a growl.   
"Where are my Pokemon?" I asked, hoping to distract him from Nidoran, in case he kicked the poor thing. If there was one thing Spike hated, it was being tied up. At least on his lead he'd had some freedom, here the lead was so short he could barely walk two paces.   
Loki sighed. "Let's see, the Vaporeon's been sent to Headquaters. Makimur caused a bit of difficulty, so we're having to transport him separately, see," he walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a glass container with a very small air vent at the top. Maki sat dejectedly in the bottom. "See, he kept escaping from cages, so we decided to put him in Jessie and James's Pikachu bottle and I think that's working nicely, don't you?"   
"Maki," Maki muttered darkly.   
"And, well, the Seadra wasn't a lot of use to us, so we're trying to sell it via the internet. If it makes you feel better though, we let Kameron keep the Flareon, since it appears he lost his Florion."   
"Flori-ON!" Florion spat at him, his quilled tail rattling in an annoyed fashion.   
"Interesting little guy that," he replied. "I guess we'll have to take him off you sooner or later. We would've been out of here today if it wasn't for the snowfall. Can't even fly a helicopter in this weather." He sighed melodramatically. "Anyway, let's have a look at your Pokemon."   
He reached out to grab a Pokeball, when suddenly, something happened. A glowing light surrounded Spike, and suddenly he started to grow, and grow to almost twice his initial size. He scuffed his foot against the ground and charged straight at Loki, taking the table with him.   
"Nido-riNO!" He shrieked as he knocked the somewhat frightened Rocket to the ground, kicking him.   
"Call it off!" Loki shrieked, "please, it's going to kill me!"   
"Spike," I shouted, hoping he was listening, "stop it, don't hurt him too much." I didn't know how much control I had over the Nidorino. He had been aggressive enough as a Nidoran, and now he was so much bigger and so much more aggressive. Nidorans were not noted for their savagery, but Nidorinos were.   
Much to my surprise, Spike did stop. He turned around and glared at with with his reddish eyes. "Nido?" He asked, and walked over to the bars of the cage, rubbing his head against it to be scratched behind the ears. I was amazed. Being a Nidorino seemed to have calmed him down! I suppose Professor Oak was right, all Pokemon did have different personalities. Loki clambered to his feet, and reached for his Pokeball, hoping to bring Kadabra out, I'm sure.   
"Maki!" Makimur leapt across the floor and stared Loki in the eyes. Loki froze, confused, as many others had when faced by the tiny Pokemon. A blaze of light shot from the star on Maki's head, somewhat weakly because he had been inside and not absorbing sunlight, but it was enough to blind Loki. Maki jumped over to the Pokeball that Loki had dropped of ours, and pointed it at the floor.   
"Maki!" He shouted.   
"Bururu!" Snuggles cried, taking one look at the situation and darting to hide behind the upturned table, to which Spike was still tied.   
"Maki-murr?" Maki asked, puzzled, and then noticed that Loki was holding that dreaded Pokeball once again. "MaKI!" He shouted, and Loki's hand suddenly stiffened, opening and dropping the Pokeball, which Maki picked up and rolled into the corner, as though it were a bowling ball. He then faced Loki, standing upright, one hand on his hips the other ticking back and forth.   
"Omigod!" Rowan shouted, pulling me to the ground so roughly my chest exploded with pain. "He's using Metronome, who knows what might happen!"   
Loki cowered back, hands upright, pressing himself against the door. "No," he whispered hoarsely. "No…" He slid down the door, covering his face with his hands.   
Maki looked puzzled, he dropped his hand and turned to look at us. "Maki?" He asked. "Makimur?"   
Loki took the opportunity to open the door and dart outside into the corridor. Maki shrugged then bounded over to us. His fur was bloodied slightly, from the glass that had shattered when it fell off the table.   
"Maki!" I shrieked, as he leapt into my arms. I chuckled slightly. As if my Maki would know metronome, one of the most powerful, unpredictable attacks! What a ridiculous thought. Rowan looked abashed.   
"It looked like metronome," he muttered.   
"Maki, ki, ki, ki," Maki chuckled.   
"Nido-rino," even Spike seemed amused.   
"Come on Maki, get us out of here before Loki returns with his friends."   
"Makimurr!" Maki went back through the bars and grabbed something from the mess on the floor. He then climbed up the Nidorino, who took it all in good humour, and set about fiddling with the lock. A moment later there was a click.   
"Maki!" Maki said proudly.   
Rowan shook his head in amazement, "that little guy has certainly changed," he said. "Is there anything he can't do?"   
"Oh yes," I replied, "he can't swim. Or metronome."   
"But try telling Loki that."   
We swung open the door and I collected up my Pokeballs, including my Seadra, which was tucked away at the back of the shelf. There were a number of other Pokeballs too, including a strange, almost translucent one.   
"What's in this one?" I asked, pointing it and pushing the button. A strange thing indeed materialised on the ground. It appeared to be a golden rock with some large type of insect trapped within it. "It's the dragonfly Pokemon fossil!" I exclaimed. "This must be some sort of carrying Pokeball for inanimate Pokemon. Return!" The light consumed the fossil once more.   
"What shall I do with this?" Rowan asked, holding up the Kadabra ball.   
"I don't want to keep it," I said, "as much as I want to keep it away from Team Rocket, I don't want it anywhere near me, in case it gets out. I hate that thing."   
Rowan nodded. "Fair enough, then how about I drop it out this window here… within an hour it will be covered in snow and they won't find it for months."   
"It won't kill it, will it?" I asked. As much as I hated it, I did not wish to condemn it to death.   
Rowan shrugged, "I shouldn't imagine so, it's just pure energy at the moment anyway." He dropped it out the window. "Oops, looks like there was a bit off a drop there, don't worry, only eight or so feet, nothing to bother about." He smiled. "Why hasn't Loki come back yet? With friends?"   
As if on cue, the door swung open, and standing there, resplendent in his horrible trenchcoat, was…. Kameron. He looked abashed. Florion, much to my surprise, darted across the floor and leapt into his arms.   
I glared at him. "They sent you to sort us out?" I hissed. "Nidorino will sort you out, if I ask him to. And don't think I won't, traitor."   
Rowan grabbed my arm and Spike gave me a puzzled look, shaking his head. "RiNO," he said, very assuredly. He would not attack Kameron. So much for Nidorino's being aggressive. I looked at Snuggles, shivering behind the table. So much for Burus being aggressive. Were all the books wrong?   
"Let him explain," Rowan cautioned. I glared at him.   
"You can talk," I spat out, "you weren't left alone on the marshy ground to die by someone you thought was your trusted friend. You didn't have all your prized Pokemon stolen by some charlatan. I hate him." I turned my glare back to Kameron. "I hate you," I hissed.   
"I'm sorry," Kameron stuttered, pulling a Pokeball from his pocket. I knew what was going to happen, he was going to bring out Cubone, or Flareon, or maybe even Dancer and turn it on me. Well, that wasn't going to happen. Unfortunately, I didn't really have any Pokemon worth fighting with. Maki was worn out, Spike had already refused to fight and Razor was not much good on land and I couldn't even consider Snuggles. I glared at Florion. Little traitor. Well, I'd just have to face whatever Pokemon he threw at me alone. If it was Flareon or Cubone, I could pull out Seadra, who wasn't completely useless, and maybe Spike would defend me. I steadied myself, ignoring the pain throbbing in my chest.   
And Kameron threw the ball at me. I caught it completely by reflex. "What?"   
"It's your Vaporeon," Kameron replied.   
"But she was sent away to headquarters…" I muttered.   
"I'm in Team Rocket, remember, I simply broke into the computer, typed in Freyja's code name and password, and got it sent back as soon as I heard the commotion downstairs. They'd locked me in my room, but fortunately I learnt a couple of tricks form Maki here."   
"Makimur," Maki said happily.   
I stroked Ozmos's Pokeball. "So where are they now?" I asked. "Why are you here?"   
He grinned. "Once they had fought you in the hallway, I got Dancer to put them to sleep."   
"And Loki?"   
"Oh, he's cowering under a bed now, nursing crushed ribs and terrified of Maki." He shook his head. "As if the little guy would know how to use metronome."   
"Maki," Maki said innocently.   
"Anyway," Kameron said. "I'm going to give you Flareon back now, although the little guy seems to like me." He tossed the ball at me. I caught it with a wince of pain. "I don't suppose I'll see either of you again. I'm sorry Kat. Yes, I led Team Rocket to the fossil, but I didn't mean to lead you to them. You decided to get the fossil back, and I helped, and they blamed me. I thought if they had the fossil, they'd leave you and Maki alone. I guess they were wrong." He sighed, and shook his head. "I'm really sorry."   
I was still mad at him, but I had something to ask anyway. "Umm, Kameron, I was wondering if you'd like to keep Flareon, he makes Maki nervous and I've grown rather fond of Florion."   
"Really?" He looked at Florion. "What do you think boy?" I remembered how attached the Eevee had been to Kameron.   
"Flori florion, flori flor, ion, ion." Florion looked at me, and then nuzzled Kameron and darted across the floor to me, nudging me with his bullet shaped head. He then looked forlornly at Kameron. "Florion," he said dejectedly.   
"I'll miss you too boy," Kameron replied, "but Kat's a better grass trainer than I am, and anyway, I've still got Shrubslash."   
"Makimur, maki maki-mur mur!" Maki said, leaping across the room (much to my surprise and hugging Kameron's leg. My Pokemon seemed to be unoffended by his betrayal of me. I felt almost hurt at it. I called Flareon out of his ball. Flareon seemed already to know what was going on. He nuzzled me, then darted across to Kameron, who picked him up and stroked his golden mane.   
"Flare-eon," he said.   
"Come on guys," I said, picking up my empty Pokeballs. "Spike, Florion, Snuggles, return." I scooped them all up, except Maki who resumed his usual perch on my shoulder.   
"You called that bulldog-thing Snuggles?" Kameron sounded incredulous, shaking his head.   
I shrugged. "I once called you friend."   
And saying that, I clambered out the window, without looking over my shoulder, carefully avoiding the drop and making sure to kick some snow over the Kadabra ball. Rowan followed me, and Maki sat on my shoulder muttering to himself. I had done what Rowan said, I had listened to my heart, and I had understood my Pokemon. They had wanted me to stay with Kameron, but I couldn't. Even if he had not betrayed me, he had still lied to me, and taken part in stealing the fossil. I would not forgive him, no matter how much I cared for him. I never wanted to see him again, but I could still remember what Florion had said when making his decision:   
"I'll go with her, for now, but I'd rather you two were together."


	5. Snow Fight

#    
  


# Snow Fight

Stephanie was pacing outside the hostel, when we returned.   
"We got them back," I replied, sounding somewhat glummer than the circumstances entailed.   
"Cool," she replied. "The gym was closed for the night, so I came back here to wait for you. I thought I saw you coming down the road so I rushed outside to meet you. Boy, it sure is cold!" She wrapped her jacket tighter around her shoulders.   
Rowan smiled at her charmingly. "We better get inside, winter's grip is upon us!"   
We all shuffled inside. The hostel was one of the quaintest I had ever stayed at, resembling some kind of European villa. It was clean too, with a special playroom for Pokemon. It seemed Sereniti was a common destination for people on Pokemon Quests. I moved through to the playroom and let my Pokemon out. Some of them had been in their balls long enough. There was even a small indoor poor – kind of like a paddling pool, for water Pokemon. Razor dived in and set about playing pranks on his water companions – a Goldeen and a Squirtle. Within about a minute, waves were swishing across the tank and up the walls. Vaporeon took a more refined attitude towards things, she stalked across to the corner and started grooming herself, probably feeling the worst for being transferred twice through cyber space. Florion became the subject of attention for some of the other Pokemon, a Clefairy, two bulbasaurs, a pidgey, two Nidorans (both males, both frightened of Spike) and a Sandshrew. Until they saw Snuggles that is. The Buru took one look at all the Pokemon advancing towards him in curiosity and immediately hid behind a climbing gym, on the top of which Maki sat proudly, with a Spearow at either side of him and a Farfetch'd staring at him curiously. There were quite a few flying Pokemon in here, probably because of the gym. Spike curled up in the corner, whilst the Nidorans approached him cautiously and Rowan's Pokemon rested at various points about the room.   
Suddenly something small and yellow barrelled towards us. "Pika pi!" It cried happily.   
"Hi there, cous!" Came a familiar voice and I looked up to see Ash, who was now sixteen and almost six foot tall, with a rather attractive young lady beside him.   
"Hey Ash, I didn't know you'd be here. This is my friend Rowan, how's things?" I gave Pikachu a hug.   
Ash grinned. "So you finally got your Pokemon, which ones are yours?"   
I pointed them out to him.   
"Six?" He replied. "That's pretty good going, how good are they at fighting? Do you want to battle?"   
I looked at Pikachu. "Personally, I doubt mine would last five minutes, but I'm game to try, if they are. Except Buru of course."   
"Buru," Snuggles whined.   
I sighed, as Ash pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at Snuggles.   
He laughed when it said Burus were aggressive, then pointed it at Maki.   
"Makimur, the lemur Pokemon," it said in its electronic voice, "an inquisitive creature capable of learning many skills, if you have the patience."   
I chuckled. "That's Maki to a T. By the way, who's your girlfriend?"   
Ash scowled at me, as did the girl. "We're just friends," they said in unison.   
I could see Rowan's eyes light up.   
"So you guys are here for the Sky Badge?" Ash asked.   
"Nah," I said, "Team Rocket stole my Pokemon, so I had to get them back. How about you guys?"   
Ash held up a badge resembling wings set in front of a circular golden orb. "Been there, got that," he replied.   
"I'm Misty," the girl said. "I like your water Pokemon, may I take a look?"   
"Of course," I replied. "Ozmos, Razor, say hello to Misty."   
"Vapor!"   
"Seadra!"   
"Psy," muttered a voice as an odd ducklike Pokemon materialised from a ball tied to Misty's belt and waldled across the floor.   
"Psyduck," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "What are you doing?"   
  
Misty was admiring Razor, who puffed out his fins and chest, trying to look bigger and stronger than he actually was.   
"I think he likes you," I said. "He seems to like other water trainers."   
"So, do you want to fight or not?" Ash asked, sounding somewhat annoyed.   
"Why not, but it'll have to be outside and with some restrictions."   
Ash looked at me, puzzled. "Yes?"   
"Save Pikachu until last, give me at least a chance!"   
"Pika?"   
"Cool," Ash agreed. "I'm going to beat you."   
Misty rolled her eyes. "Don't be so sure," she said.   
I shrugged. "He will, but it'll be good training for them." I called in all my Pokemon and we marched outside, into the snow.

"Go Ozmos."   
"Go Bulbasaur."   
And so the fight began.   
"Ozmos, mist," I shouted, and she spewed forth thick white clouds, that were not the mist typical of the attack. Even Ash looked puzzled.   
"Bulbasaur, vine whip the mist aside!"   
"Bulba!"   
"Ozmos, water gun attack, now!"   
"Vapor!" The water gun sent the bulbasaur reeling backwards, but it got up again. The cloud had disipiated.   
"Razor leaf attack!"   
"Dodge!"   
And so it continued, until suddenly Ozmos stopped, and sniffed the air. Someone was cooking meat pie.   
Bulbasaur looked puzzled as the Vaporeon padded away, following the scent.   
"Come on Ozmos," I shouted, "fight!"   
"VaPOR!" She replied haughtily, stalking away.   
Ash laughed. "Well, let's see what else you've got!"   
"Ozmos return," I called, scooping her up. She seemed offended. "Go Razor!"   
"Sea draaa!"   
"Razor, dive beneath the snow!"   
"Bulbasaur, look out!"   
Bulbasaur got prepared, but he wasn't ready for the dragon leaping out of the snow beneath it and sending it tumbling backwards.   
"Bulbasaur return, go Squirtle."   
Wow, I'd won one! "Razor, agility!"   
"Seadraa," Razor zigzagged towards Squirtle.   
"Squirtle, water gun!"   
"Smoke screen now!"   
The cloud of smoke enveloped the Squirtle, whose water barely missed the zigzagging Seadra.   
"Now Razor, dragon rage!"   
And Squirtle was hastily recalled.   
"Go Pikachu." Pikachu was already halfway across the messed up snow ground before Ash instructed him. He knew what to do. "Thundershock now!"   
"Pika CHU!"   
Razor was shot several feet and I recalled him before more damage could be done. "Go Florion. Needle attack."   
Florion ran forward, and stopped, tilting his head back to look at me. "Flori?" He said, "florion, flori, flor." He shook his head.   
Ash laughed. "I don't think he's going to attack, Pikachu, come back here."   
I picked up Florion. "When he was an Eevee he was forced to fight in battles like this, I don't think he likes the idea of fighting like that again. Neither, it appears, does Vaporeon."   
Ash nodded. "You have good Pokemon, but they don't seem to be trained very well."   
"Oh," Rowan interjected, "they're great against Team Rocket, or when we're threatened, but I don't think they understand the idea of fighting for fun."   
"Maki!" Maki agreed.   
"I don't really like the idea either," I said, "I mean, who dictates that they should fight – us, obviously they enjoy it, but I don't want my Pokemon hurt for "fun". It doesn't ride well with me."   
Ash shrugged, "I don't really understand your point that well, but if you want to forfeit now, I accept your surrender."   
I chuckled. "I bet if you were trying to hurt me or steal my Pokemon they'd attack you just like that."   
"MaKI!" Maki put his hands on his hips and tried to look tough, failing miserably.   
"Come on, its freezing out here," said Misty, "lets go inside and get something to eat."   
Over tea we told Ash and Misty about Loki and Freyja, and Kameron, although I kept details about him slim. Maki stole fries of everyone's plate and Pikachu stole the ketchup bottle, trying to share it with Maki. The Makimur was not impressed.   
"Your Team Rocket seem awfully tough, not like ours."   
"Jessie and James," I replied, "we met them, briefly, but it's the Kadabra that's the real problem."   
Ash agreed. He was just about to open his mouth to say something profound, when suddenly the windows shattered inwards.   
"Prepare for trouble   
Make it double   
To protect the world from devastation   
to unite all people…"   
"Shut up you two, they stole my Kadabra!" Shouted Loki, pushing past Jessie and James.   
James muttered something under his breath, "hah, spoiling our intro. Bleeding typical."   
"Go Fearow!" Loki released his only Pokemon.   
"Go Abra," Freyja pushed in.   
"Oh, for goodness sake, we better help them, go Arbok."   
"Go Victibell! Help, get me out of here."   
"Meowth, you fool." Said the talking Meowth jumping out in front of all of them.   
"Oh for goodness sake," I said, "I don't have your Kadabra. Do you really think you can break in here with all these Pokemon Trainers and win?"   
"It's the principal of the matter," Loki said haughtily. "Only Team Rocket can steal Pokemon. Abra, get her!"   
"Go, all of you," I said, as Ash, Misty and Rowan released all their Pokemon.   
For about two minutes, chaos reigned. The table tipped over, food flew everywhere, and when the fighting finally stopped, all of Team Rockets' Pokemon, except Abra, and some of our Pokemon were panting in the corners, worn out.   
Loki took one look around, stood tall and said, "you won't hear the end of this."   
"MaKI!" Maki leapt up from a crouch on the floor, and flashed his starblaze straight into Loki's eyes. Loki reeled back, sliding out the window.   
"Ok, what's going on here?" Officer Jenny marched into the dining hall and put her hands on her hips.   
"They started it," Ash pointed out. "They tried to steal our Pokemon."   
"We can't have that happening," she said, turning around. "You guys are coming with me."   
James looked petrified. "We can't go back to jail again, the Boss might not bail us out this time, go Wheezing, smokescreen attack."   
The cloying smoke filled the air.   
"Goldflash, blow it away," Rowan called, but by the time all the smoke had been blown out the window, Team Rocket and all their Pokemon were gone.   
Officer Jenny sighed. "It's always the way," she said. "Oh well, better see if I can catch up with them." She leapt out the window. I noticed Rowan watched her extremely closely.   
Ash pulled me towards him and whispered in my ear, "your friend is a lot like Brock," he said.   
I chuckled. I'd seen Brock on the tv show of Ash's adventures.   
We collected up our Pokemon, pleased to find they were all there. Except Snuggles… Could Team Rocket have stolen him?   
"Snuggles," I called, and finally heard an answering, "buru?"   
The pink Bulldog Pokemon crawled out from beneath a cabinet, and looked shame-faced.   
I sighed and Ash laughed. "Great Pokemon, cousin," he said, picking up Pikachu, who was a little battered from Thunder shocking all those Rockets.   
"I think we're going to have to leave in the morning, sorry Stephanie, but I have a feeling Team Rocket will be back to try and get back their Kadabra."   
"What did you do with it anyway?" Ash asked.   
"Nothing much, just hid it where they won't find it until the spring thaw."   
He grinned. "Oh well, have fun. See you around sometime."   
We bid them "goodnight," for tomorrow would be a long walk through thick snow and we needed all the sleep we could get.


	6. Save the Nidoran!

  


# Save the Nidoran!

It was several days since we had left Ash and Misty in Sereniti and Rowan and I had caught the bus back to Eerie town. I bid him "farewell" again, as he boarded the bus back to Derriby Island. I would miss him, but I had more adventures ahead of me.   
"Where to now?" I asked Maki. "I guess I have to take this fossil back to Siryntown," I answered myself, "but I'm almost out of money." I sighed. "I guess its footwork the whole way… How long can it take, seven, eight days?"   
"Makimurr, maki mur mur," Maki answered, somewhat puzzled. I was talking to myself and he didn't like it.   
We set off along the road that led back to Siryntown, Florion loping along beside me. For some reason he hated being locked in his Pokeball and kept clambering up onto things as though searching for something. Whatever it was, he wouldn't tell me and I couldn't guess. Maki curled up on my shoulder and fell asleep, which was most unusual. He hadn't seemed himself lately, it was almost as though he was ill or depressed. I'd take him to the next Pokecenter I came to.

The next four days passed reasonably uneventfully, and on the fifth, I arrived at a new city called Grymtown. It did look grim too, all these old, stone buildings and people absorbed in their work and personal lives. It looked fairly unfriendly and very unwelcoming. I could not find a Pokemon Hostel and eventually gave up and retreated to the fields surrounding it to set up my tent. It seemed lonely, even with Florion and Maki to keep me company. It looked as though this reasonably peaceful meadow was not intended to be that way for long. A sign had been put in the ground and several trees lay in pitiful heaps. It looked as if soon, this pretty meadow, would be a part of Grymtown. The ground was riddled with burrows, which I took to be Nidoran holes, quite accurately as it turned out. The sign read:   
"Coming soon: Super Mall – over 300 stores for all your shopping requirements." Beneath which was a sketch of a particularly ugly building. Someone had spray painted over the sign in red, "Save our Natural Heritage, protest the Super Mall." And somebody had plastered a small picture of a Nidoran male and a Nidoran female, rubbing noses beneath it. It had "Don't destroy our wild Pokemon," written in bold print.   
"Looks like there's some of your wild friends here, Spiko," I said (that had been Rowan's suggestion – he had been Spike when he was a Nidoran, so now he was a Nidorino, he must be Spiko), "So come out and see."   
"Rino!" Spiko ran across the dirt, happy with the sheer exburence of someone who had been trapped too long.   
"Maki," came a muffled voice, my delightful little Makimur backed out of a Nidoran burrow," makimurr…" he muttered as an irate female Nidoran snarled at him. Florion, meanwhile had clambered to the top of the pile of felled trees and was sitting there, as though waiting for something.   
I set up the tent, something I was luckily quite good at doing alone, and released Ozmos and Snuggles. There was a small pond here with a couple of wild ducks (not Pokemon) floating on it. They flew away squawking as Ozmos charged them, either in a search for food or merely for the sheer joy of watching them run. After a seconds thought, I released Razor into the pool too, the exercise would do him good. I suspected that being trapped in their Pokeballs was not healthy for an extended period of time. Fresh air, food and exercise were all just as good as a Pokecentre and also gave them the chance to learn things. Maki, for example, was trying to fish.   
He leaned over the water, light glowing from his star. After a short while, a Magikarp surfaced, attracted by the light, and Maki scooped it out of the water with one hand and onto the grass.   
"Magikarp, magikarp," it said pathetically, twitching slightly. I walked over to it and pushed it back in the water, scolding Maki.   
"You don't even like fish," I said, when he scowled at me.   
"Maki!" he said, "Maki ki mur!" ("That's hardly the point, it was MY fish.").   
"Come on, I'll get some takeaways." There was a Pizzarella just across the road from the park. I bought a large Vegetarian and a large Seafood pizza, so that all of my friends could share a slice. There was not a lot left for me. Florion carried his piece back to his pile of trees and I saw that he would stare down the road, then glance longingly at Vaporeon (who was begging for another piece), then back down the road again, and something dawned on me.   
Florion had come with me, not because he felt more of a connection with me then Kameron (who had saved him as an Eevee, after all), but because he fancied Ozmos. Why, I didn't know, because Ozmos showed little interest in him, little interest in anything in fact, except food, and water. Sometimes I thought the only reason she stayed with me was because around me she got to try tasty novelties, like pizza. In truth, Florion was probably more loyal then Ozmos (who could be distracted by a pie), but his true loyalties lay with Kameron. I wondered if Kameron knew this, and that was why he had decided to swap. Florion was, probably, a very rare Pokemon, after all. Snuggles offered me another piece of pizza and then rubbed his head against my side, asking for it to be scratched, his short arms could not reach behind his ears very easily. He had a very sweet nature. I had managed to track his owner down to a young man in Sereniti who had grown sick of his cowardistic attitude and complete inability to even try and fight, and had basically dumped him. There was a wild population of Buru near Sereniti, but they were very territorial and aggressive and quickly pushed Snuggles out of their ranks and into the ranks of outcast. It seemed that I was the only one who would accept him. I didn't care if he wouldn't fight, I liked him just the way he was. I helped him pull the ring-tab on a can of soda, and laughed as he tried to drink it.   
It was nearly dusk when a man came wandering across to the park, with a Growlithe on a leash. A couple of Nidoran that had ventured from their holes to graze and eat the fallen fruit, quickly retreated back into their burrows. Buru hid behind me. Maki bounded across, towards the Growlithe and quirked his head on the side.   
"Maki maki mur mak mur?" He asked. ("Why are you on a leash, did you do something bad?"   
"Growl – lithe," (The puppy Pokemon barked the last bit) it replied. ("No, it's the law.")   
"Greetings," the man said. He looked to be in his late twenties, clad in an oversized sweater, sweat pants and running shoes. "You've chosen an interesting place to camp."   
"Hi," I replied. "I can't afford a hotel and this place seemed nice enough. Why is that Growlithe on a lead?"   
He sighed. "I don't like it anymore than it does," he replied, "but recently the council have decreed that all Pokemon within the city limits be restrained in some way. This is why I bring it here for exercise, because it's out of city bounds." He removed the collar and Growlithe immediately bounded off, happily chasing Nidorans.   
The small Nidoran was terrified, the huge growling thing was bounding towards it, and it had strayed too far from its burrow. In desperation, it ran, leaping over a rock. It was somewhat surprised when the rock moved. So was the Growlithe. Spiko had been resting in a nice patch of grass and the little Nidoran had woken him up. It was frightened, and Spiko was very protective of his own kin. He stood up and scuffed his foot on the ground, "nidorino," he growled.   
We both laughed as the Growlithe turned tail and darted back towards his human. Spiko gave us a puzzled look, as in "what did I do?"   
"It's a shame that within a fortnight this park will be completely torn apart and encased in concrete," the man said, sadly. "I rather like the little Nidorans, I bring Growlithe out here for some exercise and training as my lodgings are rather small, and whilst he runs around, I like to watch the little things. But," he shrugged, "the council are dead against Pokemon it seems, says they're unnatural. They don't care what happens to the Nidoran."   
I gave him a stunned look. "What do they think is going to happen to them when their home is gone?"   
The man shrugged, brushing his short, and rather stylish, goatee, "I guess they just figure they'll go somewhere else."   
"And won't they?"   
"I doubt it," he replied, "the city lies that way, that way there is dense forest, not appropriate Nidoran territory, and eventually Lake Eerie, which is Nidoran territory, some open meadows and woodland. And that way is a housing development state. So I guess they have to go to the forest, where they'll be attacked by Beedrills and Butterfrees, Mankeys and all, not to mention Spearows, whilst not finding enough food to eat. Poor things."   
"That's terrible!" I said, Spiko had made me very fond of Nidorans, and the thought of taking this land, their ideal home and turning it into a concrete jungle, whilst forcing them into a place they would probably last less than a few hours in, was horrible. "Isn't anyone trying to stop them?"   
"That's not the only problem," the man continued. "I'm currently lecturing Pokemon Ecology at Grymtown college, and this place is what we call an island."   
"But it isn't surrounded by water," I interjected. He looked at me as though I were foolish.   
"By island, we mean an area bordered by something that does not allow new members of the species through, thus restricting the breeding within that area to only the individuals in the area."   
I must have looked a bit blank at that statement, because he went on to explain further.   
"I mean, more animals can't get in, so only those in the area can start families, and often they may be related," he explained. That time I understood.   
"So you get sisters mating with brothers?"   
"Indeed, and that leads to something we call inbreeding, which can often bring flaws into the offspring, disabilites such as deformed limbs, or susceptibility to disease."   
I managed to grasp onto most of that sentence. "And if this happens too long, the group of Nidorans will die out because they'll be deformed or wiped out by a disease?"   
"Exactly. How old are you, girl?"   
"My name's Kataryna," I said politely, "I'm nearly thirteen, so I do know a bit about biology. I just don't understand all your technical terms."   
He nodded. "I'm Doctor Frances Warwick, in my spare time I observe populations of wild Pokemon and try to learn about their behaviour, in my not so spare time, I teach students about it. I can tell you'd be a better pupil than some of them too," he said, sighing and shaking his head, "some of them have never caught a Pokemon in their lives. Some don't even own one. I think a lot more can be learnt by observation than listening to some old man blab on about them."   
"You're hardly old," I interjected.   
He shrugged. "Anyway, here's my card, if you find any interesting populations of wild Pokemon, let me know and I'll send someone out to study them. Perhaps one day you'll be in my class. I can see you're better than one of those trainers that just believe in fighting their Pokemon and wouldn't have an inkling of how they might use their special skills in the wild. Look at that Seadra for example."   
We both glanced at the pond, Razor had just squirted a jet of ink at some insomniac moth, bringing it down so that he could reach it.   
"That's the use of a special skill, I believe you trainers call it smokescreen or something? Although it's not smoke at all? It's not using the skill to fight, but to hunt food. Just as a Pikachu might use its thunder shock to scare predators away from its territory, or a Bulbasaur may use its Razor Leaves to cut fruit down from trees where it can't reach it. I believe that Pokemon evolved their special skills not to fight in foolish battles, but to better cope with their environment."   
"You know," I said, "I think I agree with you. My Pokemon only fight when its important, like to defend me, sometimes they fight because I ask them too, but mostly they seem to view fighting as pointless."   
"Maki maki!" Maki agreed.   
"Burururururu bu." ("I don't like fighting much at all.")   
"Va por?" ("Are you going to eat that piece of pizza, it's getting cold.")   
I handed Ozmos the last piece of Seafood pizza. She ate it happily. The Growlithe was watching Seadra, stalking him along the bank. As the puppy playfully put its paw in the water, Razor brought his tail down hard, sending a splash of water into the puppy's face.   
"Owlll," it whimpered, backing away.   
"Dra dra dra!" Razor chuckled, squirting another moth down with his inkjet. He was unnerringly accurate. I think I knew why Razor would fight, he just liked teasing other Pokemon.   
"That little lemur thing of yours is very cute," Doctor Warwick continued, stroking his goatee. "I've never seen one of them before, what can you tell me about it?"   
Maki knew he was the center of attention and struttered in front of us, grooming his fine tail.   
"He calls himself Makimur," I replied, "and was found by Gary Oak in the great Pokemon Jungle. I don't know how many of them there are, or what they evolve into, but from what I've gathered, they're fairly hard to train and insatiably curious about everything. Maki's learnt quite a few tricks too."   
The Doctor smiled. "It might pay to study these things then, you travel a lot, yes?" He asked.   
I nodded.   
"Well, perhaps you'd like to go into this jungle and see if you can find Makimurs in their wild state. We'll give you everything you need, of course. I'd be very interested in learning more about them, as the behaviour of one individual is hardly an accurate representation of the behaviour of the entire species."   
I glanced at Snuggles, who had drunk some more soda and had bubbles about his mouth. "Hardly."   
"So, unless you have anything else to do?" He asked. "I can see you're not really a Trainer, yet you do seem to be wandering like one."   
"Oh," I replied, "my other choice is to return home and slave for my mother. Personally, I like the idea of adventure better. I do have to go to Siryntown first though, I have an item for the museum there."   
"What a coincidence!" The Doctor exclaimed, "I'm actually from Siryntown, I'm just here, in this horrible place as a guest lecturer. If you like, I can give you a ride there. I've still got another week of lectures though."   
I shrugged. "Can I come to some of them?"   
"Well," he pondered, "you're a bit young, but what the heck, you're probably better at listening then some of my students. You may have to leave Maki in the Creche though, I doubt he will sit still during a lecture."   
I looked at Maki, who was stalking the Growlithe in an intentive way. "I think not."   
"Anyway," the Doctor continued, "its been great talking to you, but I've got to head back now. Here's a map that'll show you where the college is. See you." He waved, calling his Growlithe to his side and snapping its lead on at the last possible moment.   
I smiled. "He seemed nice," I said to Snuggles and Maki.   
"Buru," Snuggles agreed.   
"Anyway guys, time for some rest, return, all of you." I called in Razor, Ozmos and Snuggles, but Florion evaded the beam and shook his head. He wanted to keep watch, for what, I did not know, and Spiko seemed to want to stay with his kin, the Nidorans. I let them remain free, and lay in the doorway of the tent for a while, watching the Nidoran frolic under the moon. Some came awfully close to the tent, seemingly unafraid. Quite a few clustered around Spiko, as if his presence was a reassurance to them. After a while, I drifted off to sleep.

And was awoken in the early morning by gunshots.   
"Maki!" Maki screamed in fear, and Florion came running through the tent flap and cowered beside me. He looked exhausted, I thought he must have stayed up all night. Comforting them, I ventured out of the tent.   
A woman in dark clothing was standing there, a dead Nidoran in her hand. Nidorino was growling at her, and looked about to charge. She looked terrified and I didn't know if I could stop him. His side was bleeding, grazed by a bullet.   
"Spiko," I called, "don't attack her for a moment."   
He growled in protest but actually obeyed me.   
"That thing is yours?" The woman asked. "Why is is roaming free, don't you know there's rules about that?"   
"I'm outside the city boundaries," I replied haughtily, "I'm allowed to let him loose, if I want. Don't you know there's rules against killing Pokemon?"   
She looked at me as if I was stupid. "They're just Nidoran, who cares about them? They're in the way of progress."   
"And progress is a huge, ugly shopping mall, built for our convenience," I snarled. "Maybe I should just let Spiko attack you."   
"Nido!" He liked the idea, it was only my asking him not to attack that had stopped him. It was amazing, when he was a Nidoran, he would have bitten her ankle and probably poisoned her, but now he had evolved, he actually was listening to me. Maybe he realised that he now had the power to actually kill someone.   
"No!" She said, holding up her hands. "I just do what the council asks me to do. The council does not want Pokemon here, so I'm removing them from the area."   
"What you're doing is killing them," I replied, "that's hardly the same thing. Look, if I can get all the Nidoran out of here, do you promise you will never kill anymore?"   
"If you can get them out of here, it's a bleeding miracle." She seemed reluctant to leave.   
"Ok, Spiko, see her out of here, ok? Don't hurt her, unless you have to…" I didn't really like adding the last bit, in case Spiko misinterpreted that as "Don't hurt her unless you want to…" but if I didn't add it, she would surely see he was not a threat.   
"Nidorino!" He shouted, charging at her. She turned tail and ran.   
Much to my amazement, Spiko ran slightly slower than her, so that whilst he looked as if he was about to catch her any second, something I knew he could do, he didn't. "Nido!" He said proudly, when she was gone, dashing across the road.   
There was a chorus of "nido, nido!" from various Nidorans sticking their heads out from their burrows. But now what was to be done? There must be hundreds of Nidoran here, and I couldn't possibly catch all of them, but I couldn't leave them here either. Spiko returned to me, and I could see that he was bleeding worse then I had suspected. The bullet had more than scraped him, if his hide weren't so thick it would have killed him. I held an item of clothing over it to staunch the blood.   
"Now what?" She would be back, I could not stay here forever, and even if I tried, the Council would come and move me, probably arrest me. There was no fighting progress, there seemed only one option, and it didn't seem the best one. I had to move the Nidoran population. Unfortunately, if progress continued the way it was, eventually all the wild Pokemon would be forced into the same habitat and then they would all die out. You could not continue moving animals from one place to another forever, as their habitat shrunk – eventually you would run out of food. However, that was a problem for Doctor Warwick, not me, I was just happy to move the wild Nidoran from this horrible place. I would be just as happy to move myself, in fact. I hated this place. Calling in my Pokemon and taking down my tent, I rushed to find the Doctor. Spiko refused to go, he wanted to stay and make sure the woman with the gun did not return. I could not force him, but I felt sickened. What if he got shot? And killed?

Thankfully, the woman did not return and Doctor Warwick agreed to help me find a suitable place for the Nidoran to go to. A place where they had been wiped out for some reason. I returned to the park with the knowledge that the Doctor would walk his Growlithe again tonight, and bring me news then.   
Spiko greeted me enthusiastically, seemingly uninjured and I set about waiting. So did Florion, back on his perch.

By mid afternoon, Florion came rushing at me, shrieking "flori! Flori! Florion!" ("Someone bad is coming.")   
A moment later, a helicopter drifted down to rest, noisily, in a patch of open ground, scattering Nidoran.   
The door opened and out stepped, you guessed it, Loki and Freyja. Loki strolled forwards and glared at me.   
"Give me back my Kadabra," he snarled.   
"For the many'th time," I replied, "I don't have your Kadabra, have you looked in all the corners?"   
"We searched the entire basement," Freyja replied tiredly. "Just give the damned thing back, ok?"   
I shrugged. "I would if I could."   
"Ok, well, if that's the way you want to play, go Fearow!"   
"Go Nidorina." Freyja seemed bored.   
"Go Ozmos, Florion, Nidorino," I chimed, releasing the first from the Pokeball and rousing Nidorino from sleep.   
"Fearow, drill peck that vaporeon!" Loki instructed.   
The Fearow swooped on Ozmos, only to find itself engulfed in cloud, than thrown back by high-pressured water. It drenched its wings and made it tumble to the ground in a mass of feathers.   
"Va por!" Ozmos said proudly. ("I've still got it kid!")   
"Well, go on, Nidorina! Get that Nidorino now!"   
The two large Pokemon faced each other, scuffing their forelegs in the dirt in preparation to charge.   
"Nido."   
"Nidorina?"   
"Nidorino!" They seemed to be having some sort of conversation.   
"Well, don't dawdle, do something Nidorina!" Freyja shrieked in frustration.   
"Nido?"   
"Nido!"   
They eventually came to a conclusion. Nidorina turned around, and the two of them charged at Team Rocket.   
"Oh cripes!" Loki shrieked, running for the helicopter. "Lift her up now!"   
"What did you do to my Nidorina?" Freyja shrieked.   
The pilot of the helicopter started the engine and the blades started whirring. Loki leapt in, tumbling and Freyja was close after, just as the helicopter lifted off the ground.   
"You haven't see the end of us yet!" Loki bellowed. Nidorina watched them go in puzzlement, "Nido," she said, and shrugged.   
"Nidorino!" Spiko nudged her, and much to my surprise, she nudged him back, almost affectionately.   
The Fearow dragged itself to its feet and launched itself wearily into the air, shrieking "fear oooowwww!" ("Wait for me!")   
I looked at the two Nidos, and smiled. "That's a sure surprise for them," I said. "First I hide their Kadabra, then their Nidorina abandons them for my Nidorino." It was almost obvious really. When Spike had been a Nidoran, Nidorina had considered him lowly, yet now he was evolved, she could appreciate his strength and power. It was almost funny. Team Rockets Nidorina had chosen my Nidorino as a mate, or whatever Pokemon called them, boyfriend?   
But now what? I approached the two of them, and Nidorina snarled at me. I doubted she'd let me catch her, and even if she did, I didn't want Team Rocket to get her back, and I'm sure they would. But if she were to become wild again, then that meant Spiko would once more be wild, and that would mean I would have to bid "farewell" to him. I didn't like that thought. And what about all the Nidorans? An idea was beginning to form in my mind, but I didn't know if I liked it or not.

It was early twilight now, and the Doctor had been and gone, showing me a map of the southern lands. There was an area there where the Nidoran had vanished some years ago, possibly after a disease or something. It looked like a pleasant place. He seemed amused by the story about the Nidorina, who at present was frolicking around the park, enjoying being free. Spiko lay beside me, eyes half-closed, whilst I scratched him behind the ears and listened to the Doctor talked. He could not stay long tonight, he explained, for he had some test papers to mark, but in the morning he would look to collecting lots of Pokeballs and hiring a van to carry the Nidoran to their new home. And then he left, whilst I watched the little Nidoran happily playing.   
I fancied I saw someone, no, several someones walking across the grass to the campsite. Florion called out in terror and leapt off his perch, bounding towards me, as another gunshot echoed across the area, probably directed at the Eeveelution.   
"They're back!" I cried. "Maki, go and alert the Nidorans, use your agility and make sure they stay in their burrows."   
"Maki!" He saluted and darted off, pleased to be given such an important task.   
As I ventured out, a disturbing sight met my eyes. There were at least five of them, all carrying rifles, and Nidorino and Nidorina were facing them, snarling.   
I saw one bring their gun up to sight it on the two larger targets.   
"No!" I shrieked.   
It startled the gunman, he moved his gun slightly and misfired. At that moment, Spiko and Team Rocket's Nidorina charged them.   
"No!" I cried again, running desperately towards them. I barrelled full-force into one of the gunmen who was just preparing his rifle to shoot Nidorino. He grunted and fell backwards, firing his gun almost by reflex. A seering pain shot through my shoulder. I screamed in agony, feeling the blood trickling down my arm.   
"Spiko, return!" I cried, grasping his Pokeball in my blood-stained fingers.   
"NiDO!" He replied, in abrupt denial. This was his fight, he would not be recalled. With his horn he flung a gunman backwards and into a heap on the ground.   
A bullet whistled just over his head, removing the tip of his ear. He screamed in fury and whirled. Nidorina had sent one of the gunmen tumbling with a body slam, and they lay in a heap groaning. She suffered a bullet to the thigh before she sent another gunman sprawling. Suddenly a Cubone seemed to materialise from nowhere, swinging its bone about and sending the final standing gunman tumbling into the dirt. Everything was a blur. Spiko limped over to me, he was wounded, but not badly, and my vision was failing.   
"Spiko," I said, "listen to me, they'll be back tomorrow and they'll be worse. You must leave NOW! Do you remember where the Doctor showed us on the map?"   
"Nido," he said, in affirmation. I was leaning on him, trying to stop my head from spinning.   
"Well, take Nidorina and all the Nidoran you can muster and head that way now, you've got no time to waste. I know you can do it, boy."   
Spiko nudged me. "Nido, nidorino rino rin nido dorin." ("I know this is how it has to be, but I'll miss you.")   
"I'll miss you too, Spiko," I said, tears coursing down my cheeks, "but you must go, otherwise they'll kill you for sure. Goodbye, my Nidorino friend."   
Spiko licked me, them looked across at something I could not see. "Nido, rino, rin, ni ni nido." He said, and then turned, nudging the wounded Nidorina and trotting across the field. "Nido, nidorin, nidorino!"   
Heads popped out of the holes and Nidoran ran out to him. Maki bounced over and licked my wound tenderly, placing his hands over it in an effort to stop the bleeding. My vision was blurring and the fire in my chest was so severe that I could barely concentrate. "You did good, my friends," I said, as the distant wail of a siren reached my ears and vision faded into haze. "Good journeys." And then all was dark.


	7. Bitter Sweet

  


# Bitter Sweet

The glaze was bright against my eyes, as I plied them open. For the second time in as many weeks I was lying in starched white sheets and staring at a bland white ceiling. My shoulder throbbed so painfully that I wondered why I had been asleep at all. And my ribs ached. Basically, I felt like something the Meowth threw up. I tried to pull myself into a sitting position and agony exploded through my arm.   
"Ugnhh," I muttered, clenching my teeth against the pain.   
"How are you feeling?" Asked a voice just out of my vision.   
"Stupid question," I replied, "like someone shot me in the arm."   
The voice chuckled. "You were lucky, the bullet barely grazed your shoulder and chipped the bone. The other kid wasn't so lucky."   
"Other kid, what other kid?"   
The voice muttered under its breath. "Darn, I wasn't supposed to say, not until you were a little better. The kid that was with you, we haven't managed to find identification on him yet, except that he was wearing a trenchcoat and a shirt with an "R" on it."   
I remembered a Cubone, hitting one of the gunmen over the head. Remembered hearing another shot after that. A Cubone could only mean one person, the person Florion had been waiting for. "Kameron?" I asked, panic rising in my voice. "He's dead?"   
"Not quite, but he suffered a shot to his chest and some damage to his lung. He's on a respirator, awaiting surgery to close up the wounds."   
"Kameron," I whispered. He'd been following me, and Florion had been waiting for him. Why hadn't I guessed sooner? Why hadn't he intervened sooner. Where were my Pokemon?   
"Where's my Pokemon?" I cried, realising for the first time how alone I was, for not even Maki was here with me.   
The disembodied voice chuckled mirthlessly. "You don't think they'd allow Pokemon in a hospital do you? Nasty, unclean things. No, your Doctor friend said he'd look after them for you."   
"Doctor friend?" I felt as if I'd lost my brain in the injury.   
"You'll not suffering delayed amnesia are you?" The voice asked, sounding concerned. "Doctor Frances Warwick, Professor on Ecology staying at the college?"   
I remembered, my addled brain had just puzzled me for a moment. "Good," I replied. "So, how is Kameron doing? Is he going to die?"   
The voice sighed. "I didn't want to tell you this, but the chances are fairly high, until we've done the surgery, he will have extreme difficulty breathing on his own. After the surgery, his chances of surviving increase to," the voice sighed again, "I suppose I should be completely honest with you, there's not much more than a fifty percent chance that he'll pull through, and even if he does survive, he may need to live on a respirator the rest of his life."   
My heart sunk. I hated Kameron, but I didn't want him dead. Or did I hate him? Would I feel this way about someone I hated? Would I feel so betrayed if I didn't care what happened to him. Tears rolled down my face. "I want to see him," I whimpered.   
"I'm afraid you can't," the voice said again. "He's in a critical condition and you should not move."   
"I must see him," I almost pleaded. "He must know I forgive him before he dies. He must!"   
The voice sighed again, sounding wearied and hurt. "I'll see what I can do, but don't expect miracles. You'll probably all the kids got. What did you say his name was?"   
"Kameron," I replied, "I, ah, don't know his surname, but his parents live, or lived, in Cerulean City. I think they owned a restaurant. I don't think he had much to do with them, they threw him out when he was ten, for getting into trouble shop-lifting."   
I could only remember a little about Kameron's past – his parents had thrown him out and he had wandered alone, until another kid had taken pity on him and given him a Caterpie. He had then gone on to try and become a Pokemon Trainer, but a Caterpie was not good starting material and he couldn't seem to catch any other Pokemon, until one day he came across an injured Cubone, that had got caught in a bear trap. He had freed it, and it had allowed itself to be captured. After that, he had done better at battles and his Caterpie evolved, until it became Dancer. Then, when he was twelve, it was stolen from him and he became very angry and upset, and when someone had approached him and asked if he wanted a job stealing Pokemon, he had agreed. That was how he joined Team Rocket, and they had lent him an Arcanine and sent him after Maki. The rest is pretty much linked to me. I somehow doubted his parents would be easy to find.   
"I'll definitely do my best," the voice said, and stood up, moving across my limited line of sign. It seemed to be a nurse of indeterminate gender, with short mousy hair and a skinny figure. "You're all he's got."   
I was all he had. Unless you counted Team Rocket, and since he'd helped me out, I doubted they would be favourably inclined towards him. All he had. I had to see him. He couldn't die, not without knowing that I had forgiven him, that he was my best friend, that I cared for him more than I had imagined…   
He had to know, no gender-less nurse could stop me.   
After the nurse had departed, I tried to remove myself from the bed. My head swung for a minute – from the exertion of standing up too fast, and a stabbing pain shot through my shattered bone and my battered ribs. I clenched my teeth against the pain and forced myself to stand up. My injured arm, my left, was in a sling, which thankfully helped ease the pain a bit. The shoulder was so padded with plaster that I looked like a lopsided rugby player. Unfortunately, they had stripped me of my clothing so that all I wore was an unpleasant light green hospital gown that was obviously not tied properly because I could feel the chill on my back, and I could not tighten it up one handed. Ok, I was out of bed, I was more or less standing. Now, where was Kameron? They said he was in intensive care, and I was obviously not, so I would have to find him. I staggered to the door, walking past a small child asleep in another bed, and managed to push it open with my good hand. Outside the corridor was almost empty. A Doctor hurried past holding a sheaf of notes, a couple walked past, their faces pale with concern. I went somewhat unnoticed as I staggered down the hallway, conscious of the cold air blowing into my Hospital gown. A sign read "Intensive Care", "Maternity", "Wards 1-50" with arrows pointing every which way. The sign to intensive care led down a flight of stairs. Leaning against the banisters, my arm throbbing, hot burning pain, I half walked, half oozed down the stairs. And bumped into someone hurrying up them.   
"Kataryna!" He sounded startled, and I recognised Doctor Warwick. "What are you doing out of your ward?"   
I looked at him, pondered lying, then admitted it, "I'm going to visit a friend in Intensive Care."   
"That kid you were found with? I understand his Butterfree called the ambulance."   
I must have looked puzzled, because he continued.   
"It dialled the number when the shooting started, the emergency number, and the operator heard the gunshots and sent someone over to investigate, two police and an ambulance. I've got the Butterfree back at my apartment, as well as all the other Pokemon that were running around."   
"Not the Nidorans?"   
He laughed. "Oh, of course not, they'd all vanished by the time the police arrived. Not a Nidoran left in the entire park, only footprints and some rather disconcerted gunmen."   
"Was, anyone killed?" I had to know. What if one of the gunmen had died? Sure they were doing something evil, but that was hardly enough to warrant wanting to be a murderer, or wanting Spiko to be one.   
"The other kid was the worst injured. The gunmen were bruised, scarred and suffered fractures, but otherwise, nothing fatal."   
I smiled faintly. "I hoped Spiko hadn't killed anyone." My arm ached. "Could you take me to Kameron?" I asked.   
"Is that the dark-haired kid?" The Doctor asked. "No, he's just gone into surgery – they decided it was too dangerous to leave him any longer."   
I collapsed, literally, the pain, the shock, the despair had become too much for me. I could not stay upright any longer. The Doctor caught me and literally carried me back to my room, being careful not to bump my injured arm.   
"I brought someone to see you," he said, once he had me safely tucked back into bed. He pulled out a small marble sized ball and transformed it into a proper sized Pokeball. "He didn't seem too keen on going in here, but I told him it was the only way he could see you. Come on out Maki."   
"Maki!" Cried Maki and rushed forwards to give me an exuberant but cautious hug. I stroked his little bullet shaped head and patted his tufted ears.   
"Oh Maki, I'm glad you're ok! Did the Nidorans and Spiko get away all right?"   
Maki nodded, "ki."   
"Good, at least they should be fine, with Spiko and the Nidorina to protect them." Maki looked downtrodden and subdued. "You'll still not yourself are you?" I asked, "Nurse Joy said you were fine, so what's wrong Maki?"   
"Maki kiki maki mur mur mak!" He said, unintelligibly.   
I looked at Doctor Warwick. He shrugged. "I think it's something to do with Kameron," he said, "but that's just a guess."   
"Maki," Maki agreed. "Maki maki mur mur kiki."   
"You missed him?" I asked, "and now he's hurt?"   
"Ki."   
"Don't worry Maki, he'll be fine, he has to be."   
"Maki kik kiki mak maki mur." Maki seemed not to agree.   
I sighed and gave the little lemur a one handed hug. "What about your lectures Doctor?"   
He shrugged, "you can call me Frances you know. And as for my lectures, I only had one today, and then I came right here. Good thing too, can't have you wandering around like a lost lamb."   
"I was not lost. I have to see Kameron."   
"I'm sure you shall, once he's out of surgery. Now, would you like to know what todays lecture was about?"   
I was too anxious to really care, but the distraction was welcome, besides, I didn't want Doctor Frances walking out and leaving me all alone. Alone with my pain and guilt. "What?"   
"You know how we have chickens, and ducks, goats and other non-Pokemon animals."   
"Of course." What did he take me for? Stupid?   
"Did you know that once their was a Nidoran like animal called the rabbit?"   
I shrugged. "I think I saw it in a book once."   
"They're all but extinct now, and that's what today's lecture was about."   
"Rabbits?" I was puzzled, I must admit.   
"Extinction, and survival of the fittest, you know about that?"   
I shrugged. "A bit, extinction is where something dies out altogether, and survival of the fittest says the stronger, healthier animals, or Pokemon, survive and breed."   
"Exactly. Well, when the Pokemon first came to this world, the rabbits lived everywhere, until the Nidoran came to their territory. See, Nidoran live very much like rabbits, in warrens in open grassland, eating grass and berries. But they had something rabbits did not."   
"Poison," I interjected.   
"And fighting skills, so the Nidoran pushed the rabbits out of their homes, poisoning them, killing them and taking over their niche, that's the habitat they live and breed in. That's what the lecture was on today – how Pokemon displaced the natural animals here so that the only true animals left are those in isolated areas or those inhabiting niches that Pokemon do not."   
"Like chickens?"   
"I think the reason chickens have survived is because Pidgey meat is not nearly as tasty." He replied. "So humans have bred them, and kept them alive. I'm sure as soon as a Chicken Pokemon is discovered, people will breed that instead and chickens will die out."   
I shuddered. "I couldn't eat Pokemon."   
"Beef and mutton both come from Pokemon," he replied, making me grimace. "So does venison, and fish meat. That's why some people chose to eat nothing but chicken meat, they think eating Pokemon is too terrible to contemplate."   
"Maki!" Maki agreed. He wouldn't eat Pokemon meat.   
"So," said the Doctor, "who is this Kameron boy that got shot? A friend of yours?"   
I told him the whole story, from the time he'd kidnapped my Vaporeon to the day he was shot. And then I cried. And cried some more. You never know what you've got until you lose it.   
We talked a while, the Doctor reassuring me, and then, apologetic, he said he must return to the college for another lecture. He begged me to get well soon, because "your Pokemon are refusing to stay in their balls and are all anxious to see you. So anxious they're demolishing my house." And looked at Maki. "We have to go boy."   
"Makiki," Maki said sadly, giving me a last hug, but allowed himself to be scooped into the ball. He seemed to have matured with the seriousness of the situation. I knew then that he, like Florion, missed Kameron. He couldn't die. He couldn't…

I lay staring at the tv screen, it was flickering some kid's show, a re-run of Ash's adventures. Misty was currently fighting a battle with a cool Golduck, that I knew from seeing it before, was not her's. As if Psyduck would evolve into something cool like that. I'd met Psyduck, and he was pretty dimwitted. I'd seen it before and it barely held my interest. I was too worried about Kameron. I was lying their remembering the good times we'd had together, swimming at Lake Eerie, catching the Shrubslash, beating Team Rocket. Suddenly the door to the ward swung open.   
"Kataryna?" My genderless nurse asked.   
"Yeah?" I was barely interested, trapped in a world of my own misery.   
"Your friend has just come out of surgery. He's in recovery at the moment, you can go see him if you like, but only for a few minutes."   
"I can!" I almost choked on my own joy.   
"Yes, but he's fairly groggy at the moment, he hasn't fully recovered from the anaesthetic."   
"How did it go?" I had to know. "Is he going to survive?"   
The nurse smiled, sadly. "I wish I could tell you positive news there, but the truth is, we don't know. There were some minor complications, but the operation was a success, so now all we have to do is wait and see if he's strong enough."   
"He is," I replied, positively. "I know he is." Had he not survived alone on the streets? Had he not ambushed Team Rocket from the inside?   
The nurse pushed up a wheelchair. "Here, you can ride."   
"But there's nothing wrong with my legs."   
"I know, but it's a bit of a walk and you're not completely recovered yet yourself. Besides," the nurse smiled slyly, "this way's more fun, wouldn't you agree?"   
"As long as it's faster, I'll agree to anything."

Nothing could have prepared me for seeing Kameron. I had imagined in my head, of course, imagined some pretty horrific things, given the amount of time spent alone, but nothing could have prepared me for the tiny, pale shape lying on the bed. Somehow, he looked smaller, with those machines hooked into him, monitoring his blood pressure, his heart beat… So small, so weak. So damned fragile. His hair was spread around his head like a chestnut halo, a tangled chestnut halo. His eyes were closed, his lips slightly ajar, his breathing sounded terrible. Like an old, dying man. They said the operation had been successful, so why did he sound like he could not breath? Why did he look like he had been drained by a vampire. I took his hand in mine, ignoring the mass of drips and assorted other wires hooked up to it. Some had been dug into his flesh, held in place with a piece of what looked like duct tape. Even though it looked so small and pale, his hand was still bigger than mine. I squeezed it gently, as though afraid I might break it.   
"I'm sorry, Kameron," I whispered, pressing my lips against the back of his hand. The skin was so cold, clammy. "I'm sorry I thought you betrayed me. I miss you. I forgive you, won't you forgive me?"   
His lips moved soundlessly, but I could see the word he was forming. "Kat."   
I stepped out of my wheelchair and ran my working hand through his tangled hair, touching his cheek. "You're going to be just fine," I whispered, my face damp with tears.   
With immense slowness, he opened his eyes, and stared at me. I'd never seen anything as beautiful as those dark brown eyes. He smiled, although he still held his mouth open, still panted as though he'd run a long race. "Don't…. leave…. Me." He whispered, one hand twitching on the sheets as though he wanted to move it, to touch me.   
I glanced at the nurse, who was busily wandering around the room checking all the displays. The nurse smiled, and pointed at his/her(?) watch.   
"I wish I could," I whispered. "But I kind of only have five minutes."   
"Give….me…hand," he replied, his voice still faint, still stilted.   
I put my hand in his, he squeezed it. His grip was not strong, but it was alive.   
"Where….my….Pokemon?" He asked.   
Trust Kameron to think of his Pokemon at a time like this. "A friend of mine is looking after them. They're all fine."   
"Good," he smiled weakly. "Kat…" he said more urgently, "if…any….thing….happens….to….me…."   
"Nothings going to happen," I interrupted, disturbed at his thinking. "You're going to be just fine."   
"I want….you….to….have….them," he continued, ignoring me.   
"Of course," I said. "Nothings going to, but if anything were too, I'd love to look after your Pokemon for you."   
"Good. I'd….love….you…to….have….them."   
I ran my finger down the back of his hand and glanced at the nurse, who was tapping the watch again. "I've got to go," I said, "but I'll be back soon, I promise." I leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek. "I'll never leave you again, if you get well, and that's a promise."   
He smiled. "Bye Kat."   
The androgenous nurse led me out.

Doctor Warwick came visiting again that night, bringing Maki with him once more. Maki made it plain to me that he wanted to see Kameron, but the nurse would not let me in there again today, said he was "resting". I was frustrated, and unfortunately, took it out on Doctor Frances a bit. Maki was back to his old self a bit and had to be stopped before he managed to push the nurse-call buzzer, three or four times. He fiddled with everything, explored the room from top to bottom and eventually stole a handful of grapes from the kid in the bed next door, and sat on my dresser eating them noisily and messily. The kid was highly amused.   
"They're going to discharge me tomorrow," I said, "they say there is nothing more that needs to be done for me, that I'll be fine as an outpatient."   
"Good, then you can come to Siryntown with me, and return the fossil."   
I frowned. "I can't leave Kameron. I have to stay here with him and I don't have anywhere to stay, except the park and I've been banned from going there."   
I'd also had a newspaper reporter in earlier asking me for details, so I'd told her everything, even about Spiko. There seemed no point in lying. The only thing I didn't tell them was where the Nidoran were headed. That could stay my little secret.   
"Of course," Doctor Frances said. "You must stay here until your friend gets well. I would offer you to stay with me, but my lodgings are small and it is not appropriate for a man of my age to share his dwellings with a young lady, like yourself. However, I have a feeling there may be a spare room in the college dormitory, that you can stay in, if you like. It should be easy to get permission."   
I grinned. "That would be great, then I can come to your lectures when I'm not with Kameron."   
He nodded, "and Maki and the rest can stay with you, if they behave themselves."

I had an anxious night that night, every time I heard footsteps in the hall I would sit bolt upright, worried that they were coming to tell me that Kameron was worse. But morning came, and with it the knowledge that Kameron was doing well and wanted to see me. I filled in all my forms first, so that I could be discharged, bid "farewell" to my androgenous nurse (whose name badge read "Cal", which didn't help). Then I hurried to Kameron's room.   
He was sitting upright today, still connected to everything, and watching a documentary on tv about Dolfin migration habits. He smiled as I entered, a bright, almost luminescent, smile.   
"Feeling better?" I asked, "you certainly look better."   
And he did, the colour was returning to his cheeks and his eyes looked less glazed. Although his breathing still seemed laboured, he was not wheezing as much today.   
"All the better…. for seeing you," he said, still wheezing, still having to force out the words.   
I patted him on the hand. "I'm glad," I said, "I forgive you."   
"I'm sorry I hurt you," he explained. "But, honestly, they…. said they'd leave … you alone, if … I did that job for them. It was just a fossil."   
"I believe you didn't mean to lead me into a trap," I said, "I missed you Kam, we all did."   
He grinned. "How's the arm?"   
"The nurse says the bullet damaged the nerves and the bone. I'll only have limited use of my left arm again, and it will hurt with over exertion."   
Kameron frowned. "That doesn't sound good."   
I nodded. "But at least I'm right handed. And alive. And you're alive. How did you get shot anyway?"   
"It's all a blur," he informed me. "I think Cubone… hit the man and he jerked his gun around…. and fired. That … was how I got hit. Or something."   
"It's been an adventure," I muttered, "a terrible adventure, but we're both going to be alright." I told him about Doctor Warwick and the College.   
"You're going to learn too much," he said, his voice growing stronger every moment. "You'll be a Pokemon expert."   
I smiled. "I wish. I meant what I said yesterday too, you can travel with me again, unless you're going to run back to Team Rocket."   
"Nah," he said, "I'm done with them. You're my best friend, and I love you for it. I think I'll stay with you."   
I awkwardly gave him a hug. "I'm glad, I kind of like having you around. Anyway, I have to go now, Doctor Frances is waiting and he has a lecture soon. I'll be back this afternoon."   
"Farewell," Kameron said as I waved goodbye. He was going to be just fine. Everything was.   
Until next time….


End file.
